Behind Blue Eyes
by BeautifulBabeForever
Summary: Ranger's past comes back to haunt him, and Stephanie finds herself in a whole new world, literally, when she wakes up with no memory. How will their relationship survive? Eventual HEA. Rating will change later.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thank you, as always to Margaret Fowler for your support. **

Behind Blue Eyes

Prologue

I had been watching him for weeks. I was almost ready to make my move. I noticed the way that they looked at each other, it showed how they felt no matter if their relationship was acknowledged or not. She was known as his woman on the main gang strip. I watched as he saved her twice, and as I observed in these last weeks, I closely watched his reaction each time he found her. It was clearly written on his face by those who knew how to read him. This was how I knew exactly how I would destroy him. They had some strange kind of connection, without looking they seemed to know when the other was near, you could see it in their body language. The comfort they seemed to offer each other was unimaginable and I was going to use that to my advantage. I was going to enjoy taking the most important thing from his life and watch him crumble in front of me. I would make it painful, and I would make it last.

He had taken so much from me in the past, and I was determined to pay him back for ever crossing me. I always knew that one day I would find his weakness, I just had to be patient, and it seemed as though my patience had paid off at last. My informant was going to be well paid for this. The smile that had long ago been wiped off my face had no started to form once again. Soon, I thought to myself, soon I would get the ultimate payback.

I followed her on her route to pick up some of her skips and could see that he had been training her, but she would be no match for me. I'd wait for the right moment to take her, however the more that I watched her the more fascinated I became with her. There was something about this woman that was special and before I could take any additional steps in my plan I wanted to find out what that was. What kind of woman would fall for a man as cold and calculating as him? He was a heartless mercenary, a cold blooded killer, but with her he was different, with her he was gentle. Had he changed that much in these last few years? Or was it simply her presence in his life that made him seem different?

I watched as she took on her current skip. She first tried to talk to him, which seemed to be going well, surprisingly, then something happened and he began to resist. She moved fluidly, without hesitation and subdued him. He put up a good fight, but with her training he was no match for her, she had him in cuffs rather quickly and began to walk him to her car. There was an easy exchange of words between them even a few laughs and smiles, but a few feet from her vehicle and everything changed. Her car exploded and she and her skip were thrown back with such great force from the blast, that both their feet were off the ground and the skip landed on top of her, both were unmoving, laying on the ground no more than 20 feet from what used to be her vehicle, now a current pile of flaming metal. I turned and scanned the area around me only to see a man standing off in the shadows watching the scene with great interest and a smile. I noticed something in his hand that shone in the light of day. I knew that he was the one responsible for the flames before me. I would deal with him later; I memorized his face, and would find out who he was and I would make him pay for this.

Within a few short minutes, after returning my gaze to the woman and her skip, I noticed the skip seemed to come around and took in his surroundings; he managed to get a hold of her keys and undid his cuffs. To my surprise, instead of running from the scene for his freedom he searched her. What was he searching for? He came up with her phone, sirens were already heard in the distance so I knew he wasn't calling to police, I continued to watch as he dialed a number quickly, talked for a moment and then hung up. He checked her over from head to toe, talking to her constantly, listening for her breathing, checking her pulse, but she never moved. The skip never left her side.

What was wrong with this man? Why was he not trying to get away? Why was he checking her over? Did he want to go to jail? Why was he willing to sacrifice his freedom for her? Why would he care? What made her so special that men would fall all over themselves for her? I had witnessed it time and again everywhere she was over the last few weeks. It was as if that smile of hers melted every man she came into contact with and they did as she asked, maybe not right at first, but eventually they did. And the most surprising thing about it, she didn't seem to understand the affect she had on people.

After what seemed like hours, but I knew was only a few moments, the Police, Fire trucks and Ambulance arrived on the scene, along with the man I wanted to punish. I smiled seeing his pain at watching her still form, laying on the ground still 20 feet from the fire, not having moved once since the explosion. Shrinking into the shadows to make sure that I was unseen, I watched the scene unfold before me. His men arrived and wore equally grim looks on their faces and stood to watch as her body was removed from the scene and placed in the ambulance. Watching the men file into the same vehicles they had arrived in and left just as quickly following the ambulance to make sure she was okay. What was so special about her? I had to know.

For now my goal would be to find out who it was that had attempted to take away my opportunity for revenge. I would take my anger out on him for now. No one gets the drop on me; no one interferes with my plans. This man will pay for hurting her by my hand, he will pay for his interference, no one else will touch him. Then I will regroup and see what I can do that will cause the most pain possible. You will pay Ranger Manoso. You will pay on way or another.

**So let me know what you think. This one has been running through my mind for a while now. Most of it is written, so I am just doing fine tuning before posting. Weekly posts will be uploaded on Wednesdays until this one is done. I hope you like it. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes

Chp 1

His phone rang and his heart lurched. He had just been informed that Steph's car had gone off the grid, so now he knew she was alright. When he answered his phone his typical response never came, his there was a giant knot in there that for some reason his normal cool and collected voice was having trouble getting passed. When he finally spoke it was in a croaked tone, "Babe, are you alright?"

"Is this Ranger?" A male voice spoke from the other end.

"Yes. Why do you have Stephanie's phone? I want to speak with her right now." Ranger clipped through the phone.

"Man, I'd give her the phone if she could talk." The man took a deep breath. "Her car just exploded. We were both knocked back, but she landed under me and now she's unconscious." You could actually hear the panic in his voice.

"Who are you?" Ranger asked as he and his men headed at a dead run to their vehicles. They needed to get to her. He needed to get to her.

"Roger Santori, Steph and I went to High School together. She came to take me back in, but as we were about five feet away from the car it exploded. She hasn't moved since I woke up." I knew this was one of her skips. She promised that this would be a fairly easy one. Someone she knew and wouldn't fight her, at least not with a weapon. But why was he calling me?

"Why are you still there with her? Not that I'm not grateful, but you stayed with her?" Ranger asked. This was not necessarily something new, but he had to ask. People just loved her, even her FTA's, plus he needed something to keep his head and heart from exploding.

"Steph has helped me out more times than I can think man, through High School and even after. If you knew her, like I think you do, and if the rumors are true, then you know exactly why I'm still here. I can't leave her like this." Roger responded sorrow filling his voice.

Ranger knew this guy was arrested for assault and battery, as well as other smaller crimes, but Steph was accepting of everyone, no matter what they had done. "We're almost there. Stay with her and then we will make sure we help you however we can." You could hear the sirens in the background.

"The ambulance and TPD just pulled up. I'll let them know you're on your own." The line went dead. Ranger could see the lights in the distance, and he knew it had to be bad for this many vehicles to be here. The closer he got to the scene, the tighter his chest felt. The only thing that could make him feel better would be to see his Babe's eyes open and hear her laughter. She had to be ok, she just had to be, she was his world.

XXXXXX

The Ambulance pulled into the Emergency Room bay only five minutes from the time it left the accident scene. Stephanie was rushed into the Emergency Room and behind closed doors where no one would be able to see her until they had examined her. Her gurney was followed by a sea of black with Ranger Manoso in the lead followed closely by his second in command Tank. Almost all of Rangeman Trenton was now standing in the waiting room.

A nurse approached him cautiously and said, "Mr. Manoso, I need you to fill out the forms for Ms. Plum." He stared at the nurse for a moment with his blank mask and then took the forms from her and turned his back on her causing the nurse to go running in the other direction. No one wanted to be anywhere near him at the moment, the anger radiating from him was suffocating.

"Hey man, you need to calm down. She'll be ok. She always is, you know that." Tank tried to comfort him.

Ranger stopped his movements, causing Tank to hold his breath. He wasn't sure if he had said the wrong thing or not. Ranger finally looked up at him with pain in his eyes, for a man who never showed emotion this was very out of character. "She wouldn't move Tank. Not once the entire time at the house, or in the ambulance." his voice cracking at the end. This was definitely not the Ranger that everyone knew.

Tank clapped him hand down on Ranger's shoulder, "The Bombshell is tough man. You know that. She's gotten through worse, yeah it was a close call, but she'll be alright. You need to keep it together for her. She'll want to see you when she wakes up." Tank tried to comfort his friend, but never got a reply. Ranger just went back to filling out his paperwork. His blank face had slipped into place and all emotion had been removed from him.

It was hours before anyone heard anything about Stephanie's condition. The waiting room was filled to capacity with Rangeman, TPD, former and regular skips, friends and Mr. & Mrs. Plum. Unfortunately when the doctor came out what he had to say was not as promising as they had all hoped.

"Mr. Manoso, can I speak with you privately?" asked the doctor.

"It's alright doctor we are all her family here. You can say whatever you need to here." Ranger said hands clenched at his sides.

"Due to the explosion and the impact of her fall there is swelling in her brain. Her head had taken the brunt of the trauma to her body. She has been placed in a medically induced coma. She had not regained consciousness before we started the medication. Her brain has severe swelling and it needs to recede before we can allow her to wake up and move around. We won't know the extent of the damage until the swelling recedes. To look at her, you would never know that anything is wrong. There is a large bump on the back of her head from the impact, but otherwise she only has a few cuts and scrapes." The doctor explained.

Ranger stood in front of the doctor for a few minutes taking in everything that had just been explained before replying, "When can I see her?"

"You may see her in short visits, no more than two people in the room at a time, and only for 15 minutes at a time. Everyone in the room must remain calm, use soft voices and absolutely, above all else No Yelling!" He said looking directly at Mrs. Plum. He knew what this woman's reaction was in the hospital as well as out in public. Everyone knew exactly how Helen Plum treated her daughter. "She may be in a medically induced coma, but she may still be able to hear you. Use soothing tones and do not try to antagonize her." His eyes never left Mrs. Plum while he spoke. No one would be attempting to hurt his patient while he had a say in the matter. Turning to look at Ranger, he said "Mr. Manoso, if you will follow me I will show you to her room."

At that Mrs. Plum erupted and advanced on the men, "He needs to stay away from my daughter. This is all his fault. You're trying to get my daughter killed. You need to leave her alone so that she can settle down and marry Joseph."

Ranger turned to face Mrs. Plum and spoke coolly, "I don't care if you are her mother or not, but with that attitude you will be going no where near her, until after she has come out of the coma. If you have an issue with this that's too damn bad, I hold her medical proxy, so you can go to hell for all I care. My first and only thought is to make sure that Stephanie gets the best care available and all the assistance that she will need. And I will protect her from her own mother if that is necessary. Tell me something, where is your precious Joseph at the moment Mrs. Plum?" He said looking around the room, "He certainly isn't here, and I know that he isn't out of town working on an assignment. Maybe for once in your life you should think about that fact. Look around and see who is here for Stephanie, these are the people who truly care for her. They have dropped everything to make sure that Stephanie is alright. Your precious Joseph is only here when the situation suits him." He then turned and looked at Frank, "Mr. Plum, would you please come with me?" He turned around and walked away with the doctor and Mr. Plum in tow. There was screaming and crying coming from the waiting room that they had just left, but kept on walking towards where they would find Stephanie. She was their number one concern at the moment; the rest could all be resolved later.

Walking to the room Stephanie had been placed in; they stopped and glanced in the window, taking deep breaths, and then slowly walked into the darkened room. Stephanie lay with a few bandages on her face and arms covering the few cuts and scrapes that she had incurred in the blast. Her hair was laying in a halo above and around her head giving the picture of a sleeping angel. The only problem in Ranger's eyes was that she was lying so still, he was used to seeing her full of such life, and yet here she was so still. The only thing that allowed him the knowledge that she was still alive was the up and down movement of her chest, and the beeping of the heart monitor. He enjoyed watching her sleep in her apartment and it had always brought him such calm and peace, but he felt anything but calm at the moment. There was a storm raging within him that he needed to unleash and he would be unleashing it on whoever it was that caused that explosion.

"She looks so peaceful doesn't she?" Frank Plum asked him, stepping up to run his fingers through his daughters hair, trying to comfort himself with that little bit of contact. It helped him re-center, calm the ache in his heart that had been there since he heard about the accident. This was his baby. He had always known that she was special, and he wanted to give her the world. He had almost lost her numerous times because of her job, but this one, this one was just too close for comfort. Touching her allowed him to release that knot in his stomach. She was still alive, and would eventually wake up. She would be ok; she had to be for all of their sakes.

"No sir, this isn't a peaceful sleep for my Babe." Ranger sighed. "I'm sorry sir; I should have protected her better." Deep down he knew that he couldn't have stopped this, but he still felt that he should apologize to the man in the room with him. After all, he had always encouraged her to do what she wanted, and had always tried to be there to make sure nothing had happened to her, this time he had failed, and it had almost cost them her life.

"Carlos, this was not your fault. You trained her, helped her, you gave her everything you were able to at the time. Don't take this on yourself. It is not your responsibility to watch over her 24/7, you know this and I know this. My wife has never been happy with Stephanie's choices and you are the easy target here. Don't worry about her." Frank stated calmly. "If you think it is best to keep her away from my Pumpkin, then that's fine, I will go with your opinion on this. I know that you have Stephanie's best interests at heart." He paused before he continued. "I know that you love her." Frank raised his hand to prevent Ranger from interrupting, "And I know that she loves you, but you two are too stubborn to admit it. When all of this is over and she comes back to us, and she will Carlos, you need to talk with her. Tell her how you feel. If you don't you'll never forgive yourself."

"Sir, you know the life that I lead. It's too dangerous for her. Look at the danger that she has already, you know that if she were with me that would increase exponentially. I can't put her in that kind of danger. You're right though, I do love her, and that's why I can't tell her that. I need to protect her from anyone that would come after her to get to me. No matter how much I want to make her my wife, I can't put her through that kind of life." Ranger said sadly. "She needs to fly, and being with me would only clip her wings sir."

Frank just shook his head in response and bent over to his daughter, kissing her on her head before saying, "Pumpkin you need to come back to us so we can straighten this man out. He's just as stubborn as you. I love you Pumpkin, come back to us." Frank stood and walked out of the room without saying another word to Ranger.

Ranger remained in the room with Stephanie, only leaving when more information had come in about the accident or something urgent on another case came up, but he was never far away. Guards were posted at her door and her visitors flowed into the room at regular intervals over several days. Mrs. Plum was never admitted into the room, and had to be physically removed from the hospital by her husband. When Grandma Mazur entered the room she kissed her granddaughters cheek and whispered, "Get stronger so that you can put everyone back in their place baby granddaughter. You're a Mazur woman and we are never down for long. I love you." Before leaving the room she turned to Ranger and stated, "You only get one life to live Mr. Manoso, don't let fear control your one chance to live your life how you desire. I can see that you love my granddaughter and your fear prevents you from giving into that. A strong man fights for what he wants; a coward gives into the fear and walks away. Keep that in mind when my granddaughter wakes up. We'll all be waiting to see which you are, the strong man or the coward." With that she walked out the door without looking back.

Ranger could only look at the door that she had just exited. Is that what he would be if walked away, a coward? He shook his head to clear that thought, no, people didn't understand the danger that she would be in if she were to be romantically involved with me. She needed to be with someone like Morelli, someone who could love her without bringing more danger into her life. Oddly enough the man, who claimed to love her and wanted to make her his wife, had not even shown up after the accident, either at the scene, or in the hospital. He shook his head and returned to watching his Babe sleep, taking in the rise and fall of her chest and the lack of motion.

After 72 hours there had been no change in the swelling that they could tell, but there was at least progress on finding who had rigged the explosion. Apparently it had been a former skip of Stephanie's that had not gone back into the system happily. The man had been wanted for possession and attempted murder, but his bail was not high enough for it to be a Rangeman file. Vinnie had given it to Stephanie, and she had managed to get the man back in the system without much trouble due to her training, but he had made threats when he was returned to the PD that he would get her back, and apparently this was his attempt at making good on that threat.

"Why was he out, he was just returned two months ago?" Ranger asked in a cool tone.

"The charges were dropped when there was insufficient evidence found in the case and he was released about one week ago." Tank explained.

"I want him found. And when we do, I want him in the Rangeman basement." Ranger replied.

"Already looking. So far we haven't turned up much of anything, but it won't be long now man. He'll turn up somewhere." Tank commented. "Any change in her condition?"

"Nothing yet, but with the amount of swelling they think that she will be under for about another one to two weeks." Ranger said while rubbing his face with both hands.

"Her mother is still ranting about not being allowed in to see her." Tank commented. He cleared his throat and continued, "And Morelli finally showed up today."

"Too damn bad, if there are any major issues call Babe's father. He'll take care of the bitch." Ranger explained. "As for Morelli, he's a non-issue. He can't do anything here for her and he has no say in what happens." Tank only nodded and then left.

Ranger turned to the bed, "Babe, I don't know if you can understand me or not, but I need you to be okay. I need to know that you are here with that gorgeous smile on your face giving your skips hell. Life would never be the same without you. I need you to understand that Stephanie. Your life is so much more important than mine and that is why I can never be with you. I know that it may not be what you want to hear, but it is what needs to happen. I hope one day you'll understand. I do love you Babe, with everything that I am. There will never be anyone else for me."

**So, what are your thoughts on Ranger and his feelings? Anything about Morelli? Wondering where he was in all of this? More to come next week. I hope you enjoyed this update. Please let me know what you think. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story. Things have been crazy and I know I'm behind of replying individually to some, but I wanted to let you know that I loved everyone of them. Happy Easter to everyone and there will be more to come next week.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Note: Thank you to all that have reviewed. This has been a lot of fun and I hope you continue to follow along with me. **

Behind Blue Eyes

Chp 2

As he listened to the cameras that he had planted in her room and the waiting room he smiled at what Ranger was telling her and the comments that were floating around by her so called friends and family. This was exactly what he needed. Ranger was going to run away and he was going to use that to his advantage. Stephanie's grandmother was exactly right, a strong man stayed and a coward runs away. Obviously, Ranger Manoso was not a true man, something he had always known. He may be one of the best the military had, but other than that, he was nothing. Stephanie needed someone that would stand by her no matter what, and he was willing to be that man if she would let him. Now he just needed a plan. 'I will find out what is so special about you my love and then I will have you for my own. I need to wait until you are better healed and learn the schedule of the guards, nurses and doctors.' He knew Ranger Manoso would spare no expense to make sure she got the best of care here in the States, but he would make sure that is was covered where they were going. 'Maybe I should higher a crew to do the major work for me, and then I could remove Stephanie myself, without any trouble.'

Turning from the computer that he was listening to the wires from, he looked into the eyes of Jessie Jones, Stephanie's former skip. The very one they were looking for that had placed the bomb and pushed the button for it to explode.

"So you thought that you could get away with trying to take out my prey before me?" He looked the little roach in the eye and saw the determination in his eyes, the ball gag in his mouth not allowing him to make any coherent sounds. "How dare you try to take her out." The man advanced on Jessie and stabbed him in the stomach. "You didn't even have the courage to do it with her looking you in the eye." A fist connected with the head and then a kick was landed to the groin. The rage boiling within the man as he pounded on Jessie was growing with every hit. "How dare you go after the woman that will be carrying my child some day. You messed with the wrong man's woman this time and there is no coming back from that." After repeated poundings on the cockroach, the man pulled back and admired his work. Wiping his hands of the blood that had splattered on them he turned away from his current toy for now.

He needed to get something to eat before he could make some decisions on how he would proceed in getting Stephanie away from Ranger Manoso and his men. Her family didn't even have the right to be near her, well, all but that grandmother of hers. That woman seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. She was the only one that he had figured had loved Stephanie no matter what. Even though he didn't understand completely what her draw was to all of these people, he couldn't help but notice all of the betting and gossip that was exchanged by those that were supposed to be closest to her. And he still had questions that needed to be answered. Where was the cop? He knew he would need to keep an eye out for him. If he was supposedly so involved with her, why was he not here with her? How could such a loving creature come from such a horrible woman? He knew that she would be better off away from all of them, but would he be able to convince her to stay away from them? Yes, he would, he knew he would.

After hours of working out his plans and speaking with specialists on her condition, he had hacked into the hospital system and pulled the information he needed for those calls, he made sure that he would have all of the after care she would need once they reached their destination. Their suggestion was that it would be okay to move her once they were to begin weaning her off of the medication keeping her in the coma. So as it sounded, he had between 7 to 14 days to get his plan in place and he would be able to move his plan for revenge forward. 'Ranger Manoso, you will pay for destroying my life. I'm going to take what matters to you most away and give her the life she deserves, without you.'

Placing on one of his many disguises he made his way to the hospital to see if he could make friends with any of the staff in the ICU. Any information they could give him would be helpful.

A nurse named Patty, stepped into the stairwell and sat down to eat her apple and gather a her thoughts of what had taken place on her ward since she arrived. Listening to the constant complaints of Mrs. Plum was wearing on everyone. They had considered calling security several times, but the Rangeman crew had stepped up and offered to deal with the woman themselves. Patty couldn't believe how good looking some of these men were and was unbelievably jealous of Stephanie Plum. These men loved this woman as their own family, and many could be seen wearing their hearts on their sleeves when they exited the Plum woman's room. She hoped that Miss Plum knew exactly how much she was loved and that she would share some of her guards with those that were single.

The man approached the nurse named Patty, "Had a rough day?" He asked in a friendly tone.

The woman looked at him for a moment in stunned silence and then smiled brightly, "It was, until you just came around. I'm Patty." She replied in a purr that was sure to let him know that she was more than willing to get to know him.

The man smiled, but it wasn't a full smile, he knew how his appearance affected women and he was willing to use it to his advantage, to a point. "Jason," he said shaking her hand then taking a seat next to her, "You look like you could use someone to talk to."

The woman heaved a sigh, at the thought of what had occurred so far today. "A patient's mother is being an incredibly difficult person to deal with. As if we have control of who is allowed in her room. The man that holds her proxy won't let her bitch of a mother in and she has been ranting up a storm all day. And from what I hear it wasn't any different the last few days either. How her husband deals with her I have no idea." Patty said while shaking her head. "The doctors won't even go anywhere near the mother so they have adjusted their schedules to come in before she is here, or after she leaves to cook dinner. It's amazing how much ranting one person can do." Patty just looked up at the ceiling and stared off in amazement.

The man smiled internally knowing that this would help him. "Maybe she is just concerned about her daughter." The man offered knowing he didn't believe it himself.

"There is no way that woman would offer anything to her daughter, that is currently in a coma, anything of value whether she were healthy or not. I've really never seen anything like it before." Patty said shaking her head again. She wondered how anyone could deal with a parent like that.

The man proceeded to make small talk with Nurse Patty, and tried to pump her for more information, which she was more than willing to offer if she believed that he was interested in her. It was amazing how women were so willing to just give out information to someone they thought could give them even an ounce of pleasure. Her break was over and she handed over her phone number before returning to work and asking him to call her and maybe they could go out sometime. As she walked through the door of the stairwell, the man shook his head at how forward women here in New Jersey seemed to be. However, when he had watched Stephanie she was never aggressive towards any man. That was definitely a good difference between her and other women he had met here.

Luck was with him today, while he was visiting the hospital on his mission of discovery, Stephanie was taken for another CT scan. He had been able to sneak into the holding room before the scan could be done and was left alone with her for a short time. For the first time since this whole incident, he watched her, in person, the rise and fall of her chest, the pout of her pink lips, the halo of hair that surrounded he head, the pale coloring of her skin, her arms laying motionless at her sides. He could no longer hold himself back from touching her. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone came into the room to move her to perform the scan. As he stepped up to the side of her bed, he reached out and gently stroked her cheek causing his fingers to feel like they were on fire. The softness of her skin sent shivers through his body; the tightening in his groin was becoming painful as he took in all of her, the pounding of his heart he was sure could be heard by all. Picking up one of her hands he admired how such soft, beautiful, small hands could ever be used for a job that she seemed to excel at. The realization that he could love this woman without really even knowing her was unsettling, but he knew he would have her, and soon. His dreams were of her now. He would be a whole person again, and she would be his salvation.

His life had been full of promise at one time, and his wildest dreams were coming true, but that had all been taken away from him by one person. Oh it's not that he wasn't wealthy and successful in his own right, he was, and more so than most. It had taken him a while, but he had created his own empire. However, the man had been so determined to serve out payback, for everything that he felt had been taken from him. Now, Ranger Manoso, was going to suffer the loss of everything that he held dear to him. Manoso would know what it was like to lose everything, like he had once felt. He was going to have the life with Stephanie that Manoso had claimed to be unable to give her. The life that the coward was going to run from, but not before that chance to run had been taken from him. Manoso would be living in misery, while Stephanie and he would be living the life that was meant for them. Oh yes, Manoso was going to be in pain, with no knowledge of where to find her.

At some point in his life, he knew he should probably have let this go, but vengeance had been such a part of his life for so long, that his conscience was just a whisper in the back of his mind. He knew that when all was said and done, and he had Stephanie for his own, that instead of his life being driven by revenge, it would then be driven by love, his love for Stephanie.

A small smile grew on his face at his thoughts. Soon he would have everything that he had ever wanted. Leaning over Stephanie, he whispered 'Soon my love, very soon', his lips grazing hers. As soon as he pulled back his lips were on fire where they had met hers. He pulled back and ran his hand once again down her cheek, ever so lightly, and his fingertips burned, yet again. Hearing noise out in the hall he retreated into his hiding spot, just as the door opened and the technician entered to take her to perform the scan.

Quickly escaping from the room he walked slowly down the hallway and away from his 'Love'. He was mesmerized by the reaction his body had to her, and he knew that he was doing the right thing; he just had to be patient.

As the man returned to his temporary living quarters, his smile grew at all he had learned today. He had the ability to draw Mrs. Plum out to cause a large distraction in the waiting room if needed; he knew how many people were usually on the ICU floor at all times, had a map of what the unit looked like and an escape route in mind. Now he just needed to sit down and figure out the best way to get what he wanted and how many men he would need to complete it. He could use his own men from home, but he would need to bring them into the US in small groups over a few days. Plus he also had an idea of exactly how to remove Ranger Manoso and that cop Stephanie had been involved with in the past. He had just arrived in the waiting room after he had left from his visit. An evil smile grew on his face as he turned to look at his play thing on the floor with his eyes swollen shut. Thinking to himself, 'this is going to be fun'.

**Hmmmm, so what do you think about this so far? Creepy guy is really fun to write. I hope you enjoyed this one. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes 3

It had been over a week and the swelling had been going down in Steph's brain, but the doctors weren't ready to allow her to wake up yet. They felt there was still a significant amount of swelling and wanted more to dissipate before allowing her to come fully awake. The damage from movement if she woke up could be irreversible. Ranger had not left her side other than to take a shower and go to the bathroom, food and paperwork was brought to him. The visitors had slowed down considerably, but the Rangeman crew was constantly on guard. There had been no luck in finding the man who had planted the bomb. It was as though Jessie Jones had disappeared off the face of the Earth, and they all knew that that wasn't possible. Two guards were always posted at her hospital room door at all times. All available men were out looking for him, both from Rangeman and the TPD.

Morelli had arrived a few days ago, more than three days after Stephanie's accident, from where he had been and had started to make waves immediately. Morelli had been an obnoxious pest saying that 'his girlfriend' would be watched over and Rangeman needed to back off. It was common knowledge that Morelli was to be out of town undercover, but what most didn't know was that he was with Terri Gilman, and even fewer knew that they had not been doing the work they were assigned, but rather getting hot and heavy 'under the covers'. Since both Morelli and Gilman had turned off their phones, neither of them knew what had happened to Stephanie. Once Joe found out, he took off for the hospital first thing. However, when he arrived he was disheveled and had smelled like sex and perfume since he didn't shower or change first. Many of the Rangemen knew what was up, but decided to keep the information from Ranger, he just didn't need anything else to set him off at the moment. Morelli had been banned from the hospital room for a short time until they got better news about Stephanie's condition.

Helen Plum had not stopped making noise, being rude to the hospital staff and talking poorly about her daughter to anyone who would listen, but was still upset she was not allowed in her daughters' room. Hospital security had had to escort her out of the building twice already, and had threatened to ban her completely if she continued to be a nuisance.

Ranger held Steph's hand and spoke to her trying to explain why he had made the decisions he had, and why she would have to understand that when the doctors told him that she would be going home, that he would be leaving for Miami permanently. The man was at war with himself. He loved her, but couldn't be what she needed. He feared her being taken from him, because of him. He had almost lost her this time, and he knew that he couldn't live in a world where she didn't exist. Her life was dangerous enough on her own, he couldn't bring his own enemies after her. That was why he 'didn't do relationships'.

Tank had tried to talk him out of it and told him flat out that he was a coward, but nothing had worked. Ranger was going to go ahead with his plans to leave town and to hell with what everyone else said. He just needed to see her eyes one more time. He couldn't have the last image of her in his mind be of her laying unconscious in this hospital bed. Yes, he was being selfish, but it was what he thought was the right thing to do. Morelli, or better yet one of his men could give her what she really needed, stability and a family. Ranger was too scared to offer her that and as much as she said she never wanted that, he knew one day she would.

When Morelli walked into the hospital room on the eighth day of her medically induced coma, he heard Ranger telling Steph he was leaving. "Good." Morelli sneered.

Ranger's head snapped up to see Morelli standing inside the door. He wasn't used to being caught unaware by anyone. Another reason he needed to leave, emotions were making him off his game, and in their line of work that could get him and anyone around him killed.

"I figured you'd be happy I was leaving." Ranger replied flatly.

"Now Steph can give up on this dream she has of being with you and she'll settle down with me and quit this ridiculous job." Morelli replied snidely. "You, were what was between Steph and I. With you out of the picture, she'll have no reason not to marry me."

Ranger knew that was what he was expecting, but he felt himself getting angry. Morelli was a good cop, but a lousy boyfriend and he didn't know Steph at all. His words just made that abundantly clear. "You really don't know her do you?" Ranger said shaking his head.

"Of course I know her. Have since she was six. We grew up together, she's from the burg' for Christ sake. She never belonged doing this crazy job that has almost gotten her killed on numerous occasions. Without you around encouraging her, she'll finally see that her place is in the home as a wife and mother." Morelli stated proudly.

Ranger just looked at him for a moment. "No matter what she has said to you, you never listened did you? How many times has she said that she didn't want to get married or have kids? A lot I'm sure. I've even heard her a few times, but you ignore her and tell her to be what you think she should be. That's not love Morelli, that's control." Ranger said with disgust.

"And you think that you know her? You think you're in love with her? She will never survive in your world Manoso." Morelli spat.

"And that's why I'm leaving. I do know her. If and when she does decide that she is ready for marriage and kids, I won't be able to give it to her. Hell yes I love her. Who wouldn't love her? But I love her enough to step away from the picture and allow her to be safe. I can't be what she needs, but I would never try to change her. And that's all that you want to do. So, here's a little free advice for you Morelli, accept her for who she is or you WILL lose her. You think that the arguments that you have with her now are going to stop because I'm gone? Think again. She fights the fact that you want to control her, and make her into something that she doesn't want to be, that she's never wanted to be." Ranger spat right back at him. "This woman loves with her whole heart," He looked down at Stephanie, "and if my life wasn't so dangerous I would give her everything in me, but I love her enough to know that I would only cause her more pain, so I'm removing myself from the equation." He looked back up to Morelli, "She may hate me for it, but I know in my heart it's the right thing to do for her. Would you be so willing to do that?" Ranger asked with an eyebrow raised in question.

Morelli was steaming mad and knew Manoso was trying to make him angry, but he was also asking something that Joe knew he wouldn't do. Joe was too involved in his job and what he wanted out of life to make any sacrifices for Stephanie that was why she had to change to be with him. Joe knew that once Manoso was out of the way there would be no reason for her not to change. "I don't need to do that for her. When she wakes up she will know that this latest event was the last straw and that she needs to quit her job and settle down. You don't know her as well as you think you do." Morelli sneered and abruptly left the room.

Ranger sat there, staring at the door as it closed. The man was an idiot. Morelli had tunnel vision; he was only willing to see what he wanted to and to hell with anything that didn't fit.

After ten days, there was still no information on Jones and everyone was getting frustrated. The only good news was that the doctors had said they would start to reduce the amount of medication they were giving Steph to keep her in the coma that evening. The guys from Rangeman were exhausted from their searches and running on fumes. Ranger still hadn't left Stephanie's bedside, but at least Morelli hadn't been back to the hospital after their little talk. Ranger just hoped that for Stephanie's sake he would stay away from her permanently, although she knew that was only a pipe dream.

Ranger had finally made his decision that he would leave before she woke up. He figured that if he tried to talk with her before he left, he could cause her more harm than good, plus he didn't want to think that she would try to talk him out of it and then he knew that he would give in. He just couldn't let that happen. He would give her anything and everything that she could ever ask for, but the one thing he knew she would, him to stay.

The ICU floor that housed Stephanie's room was relatively quiet, the waiting room was empty, and really the only extra bodies on the floor at the moment were Binkie and Zero standing guard and Ranger in her room. Nurses and doctors were bustling around like normal and the only sounds heard at the moment were the beeps of the different monitors on the floor and some shuffling of paper.

The sudden ring of Ranger's phone broke the silence and he snapped it open. "Yo'"

"Ranger we need you to come back to Rangeman." Tanks voice flat on the other end.

"You know that's not going to happen right now." Ranger replied.

"Man, you need to get back here. There was a package delivered for you." Tank replied.

"What kind of package?" Ranger asked.

"It's been checked out, and has been deemed safe to open, but the contents have come up as something biological. You need to be here to open it man." Tank replied.

Ranger hung his head. "Do we know where it came from?" He asked.

"No return address, no fingerprints and no shipping company delivered it. It somehow just appeared, with your name on it, and nothing was caught on camera. Sorry man, I know you don't want to leave her, but you need to take a look at this. Our system was breached so it could be delivered undetected." Tank replied.

"That's fine; I was planning on heading to Miami in the morning anyway. They are going to reduce the meds for the coma tonight. The swelling is going down and they think that she will be ok even with the damage that they can see on the scans, they hope it will repair itself, but they won't know if she has suffered any permanent damage until she wakes up. I plan to be long gone by then man. I'll be there in 30." And he snapped the phone closed.

He looked at his Babe, lying in the same position she had been for nearly two weeks and just stared at her, trying to memorize every inch of her face, the feel of her hand in his. He brushed his thumb over the top of her hand and then brought it to his lips giving it a gentle kiss. He breathed in the scent he had always desired that was purely Stephanie, and stood. He leaned over and brushed whisper soft kiss on her lips one last time saying, "I will always love you, please forgive me. I just can't be who you need." A lone tear dropped from his eye and landed on her cheek. He then walked out the door without looking back.

Zero and Binkie just looked at each other for a moment and then returned to staring off into the distance. Neither was willing to question the stupidity of their boss but they all knew what was happening. They rather liked where their body parts were attached and functioning.

Ranger raced to Rangeman with a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. Something was off, but he didn't know what it was. Was he doing the right thing by leaving her behind? Could he really do it? Could he live a life without her? How could a package just arrive at Rangeman, and they not know who brought it? That was impossible, or so he thought. Who could have hacked into their systems? It was the best out there.

Pulling into the garage he saw Tank standing at the elevator doors waiting for him. He exited his car quickly and he and Tank made their way to the second floor where the lab was housed, no words were necessary between the two men. When Tank opened the door for Ranger to enter his only response was a raised eyebrow when he saw the size of the package. The box was three and a half feet tall by three feet wide. A computer generated label stuck to the top addressed to Richardo Carlos Manoso, with the Haywood address. No other identifiable markings were found on the box.

Ranger turned to Tank and asked in a steely voice, "And how is it that a package this size was delivered and we have no record of it?"

"Someone hacked our system and cut the feed when the box was delivered and then reset it when it was there. It only took a few moments for them to do it. Hector is working to see if he can track down who got in, but I haven't heard anything from him so far. It's only been about an hour since it arrived. Hopefully we'll hear something soon." Tank replied flatly.

Ranger was getting more and more pissed as the time passed. Pulling on a set of gloves, Ranger pulled back the tape at the top of the box. Pulling open the flaps and looking in all he saw was a box full of packing peanuts. Together, they slowly began to remove the peanuts, placing them in a garbage bag. After a few minutes they reached something that looked like hair. Ranger and Tank looked at each other before continuing the removal. Soon they had uncovered a head and a set of shoulders, but were unable to see the face as of yet. Lester and Bobby had joined them in the room, along with Manny and Ram.

Finally feeling that they had enough of the peanuts out of the way, they sliced open the box to reveal who was inside. Lester was the first to see who it was. "Holy Shit! It's Jones." He exclaimed with wide eyes. Ranger looked up to Lester.

"This is the one we've been looking for?" Ranger questioned. "This is the guy that set Steph's car to explode?"

The box was ripped open the rest of the way, "Well, half of him anyway. We only have his upper body." Bobby said with a crack of his voice. "Who the hell would send us half of his body to us?" All the men looked at each other without saying a word. The tension in the room was so thick no one wanted to be the first to speak.

After a few moments of silence, Ram spoke up, "Who's watching Steph tonight?"

Ranger's head snapped in his direction, "Binkie and Zero. Call them. I want to know that everything is ok." Ram whipped his phone out of his pocket and immediately called them. A look of horror had crossed all of the men's' faces. They now knew this was bigger than what they had originally anticipated.

XXXXXX

(30 minutes after Ranger left the Hospital)

The ICU floor that housed Stephanie was quiet. There was absolutely no movement from anyone on the floor except for the rise and fall of the sleeping patient and staff. Even the two body guards that had been standing at her door were down on the floor in a slumber.

The man made his way into Stephanie's room, and with gloved hands, removed the camera from the room he had used and then turned off her monitors and detached her cords. He pulled the IV bag from the pole and then layed it down next to her head. He pulled back the covers from her body and wrapped her up in a blanket that he had brought for her, a soft and thick fleece blanket that was as blue as her azure eyes and would keep her warm for their trip.

Carefully lifting her from the bed he whispered in her ear, "Come my love, we are going home now. You will never have to see these people again. I'll give you everything that you could ever want or need." His body hummed having her so close to him and he enjoyed the scent that wafted up to his nose as he held her.

He swiftly moved out of her room, down the staircase and out the door to the waiting SUV and they drove to the airport immediately. Their journey would be long, but so well worth it.

**So here is an extra chapter for this week. I have another that will be up on Wednesday like usual. Let me know what you think. Morelli isn't looking so good here, but hey it is an eventual Babe. Let me know what you think. I love to hear from you. **

**I put a link in my profile to the song on You Tube that inspired this story and this stalker. If you would like to check it out, let me know if you think. I love this song. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 4

It was all coming together nicely for him. Stephanie was healing, and would soon be taken off the medication. As soon as he heard that, his plan would be put into motion. Right now he needed to finish up his plans for his revenge. His home, their home, was being arranged for their arrival, his crew for this mission had been gathered and paid. All would disappear after they were in the air so they could not be easily tracked down. Everything seemed to be going just as he had planned.

Looking at the body laying on the floor, he knew that he needed to take out more of his frustration at Manoso, but wanted to wait until his punching bag was conscious. He could wait a little bit longer before he woke up his toy.

His thoughts travelled to the conversation he had heard between the two men in her hospital room. Smiling to himself he knew that neither of the men knew how to treat such a treasure as Stephanie. Neither man was willing to give her what she would want, but he could and would. As long as she would allow him to make her happy, he would. He knew that it would take some convincing, but he was sure that he would get what he wanted, revenge on Manoso, and Stephanie for his own.

Before he had arrived in Trenton his life had been empty, his future had been ripped away from him by the very man he was after. His team had turned their backs on him for one simple mistake and now, they all hated him. Oh he had made himself a multimillionaire, and he owned property all over the world, but he felt empty, he had no dreams for himself any longer. He had lived from day to day, waiting for his moment to pay them all back, not realizing that one single and simple task would take them all down, it was almost too easy. He could never feel bad for what he was about to do. He didn't understand just how important, and what exactly she meant to them all when he arrived, but by the way that they took care of her, trained her, laughed with her, he knew that she was an integral part of their lives, the one thing that he could and would take away from them, and get his ultimate revenge.

Thinking back on his original plan, removing her from this world was not good enough, he knew he needed to do more. He had originally planned to record her torture, to harm her in any way that anyone had ever done to him, to break the spirit in her eyes, and send them the videos over time. He planned to revel in their sorrow, knowing that they couldn't protect her. The only problem was, once he saw her, and truly observed her, there was really no way he could do that. For the first time, in what seemed like forever, he felt something inside of him come alive again. His heart.

The once driven military man, turned lone man out for the ultimate revenge, had now morphed into a man with a beating heart once more. He may not know her to speak to her just yet, but by the way that he witnessed her speaking with others he knew, without a shadow of a doubt that she would accept him. She had accepted them after all, and they had done more evil acts than he had by far. He knew that he would have to work on her, to break her defenses down, to get her not to run back to them once he had her, but he knew he could, and Manoso was only making it easier on him by pushing her away. It was only a matter of time.

A smile crossed his face as he thought of running his hands through her curly brown hair, and touching her soft lips with his own. He would show her tenderness, love and give her the world at her feet. He somehow felt a shiver of warmth course through his body at that thought like never before.

A slight groan from behind him pulled him from his revere and he slowly turned around to look at his toy. Oh yes, he had had some fun with this one. He thought for a moment, she must never know of what he had done for her. He would only show her his softer side. With a slight nod to himself he focused his attention to his toy once more. The man was beginning to move slightly, it was almost time to make him pay once again for his actions. The man was no longer able to open his eyes, as they had swollen closed in the last few days of his captivity, but he knew what was coming. His capture had been more than forth coming about what was going to happen all along. Jones knew he would never again see the light of day, at this point though, he just wished it would be over sooner rather than later.

"Your time has come Jones. You will meet your maker this day, but you will suffer for trying to take her from me. By now you must have no doubt about that." He said.

Jones could only nod his head in understanding, his jaw was broken and he couldn't have spoken even if he had wanted to. The beatings over the last few days had been sever, but worse if he spoke back. His body was on fire at times, but at this point he had gone completely numb. As the blows came Jones had learned to make no noise, which today seemed to enrage the man even more than words had previously. Jones found that his face was not touched this time, only his body as the knife that had been used was used on his arms and legs. Finally it had stopped. Jones heard shuffling around the room and was looking forward to the darkness taking him under once again.

The man said to him close to his ear, "You will scream, and you will die now. Then you will serve as a message for others." Jones cringed in fear away from the man and then heard the start of an engine and could no longer hold back the screams and the pain seared through him and then his world went black and the life drained from his body.

A wicked smile grew across his face as he sealed up the first box. Boy will they be surprised. He addressed the first box to Richardo Carlos Manoso at Rangeman. No note was included, since he didn't want to give them any clues who it was from. The other box however, well he wanted to make sure that the other man knew he would never have another chance with Stephanie.

After packing the second box he left it open so he could add his heart felt note. This segment was the perfect symbol of how Morelli had acted throughout his relationships with Stephanie, and he was only too glad to be driving the point home.

_Morelli,_

_ You've had your last chance and wasted every opportunity. Never again will you be able to have her for your own._

Sealing the box up tight he waited for what he knew was to come any time now, the doctors to start their work of cutting back on her meds. Then he could put the final plan into action. The doctors that he had spoken with had told him travel would be difficult on her and that we would need to give her a different medication to make the journey easier on her, however there may be side effects that, with her current condition were unknown. Thinking about it, he knew that it was a chance he would have to take. One of the doctors had offered to come and fly with them to his home and monitor her recovery on the trip and during her recovery. He had gotten the phone call that they would be arriving within the hour and would remain at the airport so they would not attract attention. It was good to have friends, especially a world class neurologist.

He was not disappointed when he heard later that day that they would begin the process of weaning her from the medications. His actions were immediate. He called his first man and had him drug all the food and drinks on the floor for the staff. Several of his contract employees had been moving around the hospital all week so that they did not seem out of place when everything went down. They were all in plain clothes and appeared to be visiting other patients in the ICU, or working as orderlies among the hospital staff. The schedule of regular visitors had been catalogued, as well as the staff movements. This measure was simply to assure that we had as little interference as possible. He wanted to get in and out as quickly, quietly, and unnoticed as possible. If everything went well they would all be on their intended paths out of town within forty five minutes of their retrieval.

A second phone call was to have the pick up and delivery arranged for the packages to Rangeman and Morelli's front porch. Each team had a signal jammer on them so they would not be captured on any cameras and would be able to complete their mission without complications. Vehicles were used from local couriers and uniforms worn, and then returned or destroyed, in case any nosy neighbors were watching.

The house where the man had stayed was cleaned from top to bottom. No trace that he had been there at any time was present. No trace of his actions with his toy could be seen either with the naked eye or ultraviolet light. He knew how to come and go as the wind, and made sure that nothing would lead them to him. To law enforcement this would look like the perfect crime.

A text came to tell him that the boxes had been delivered and the man's smile grew, he thought 'very soon my love, very soon now'. Sitting in his car listening to the receiver twenty minutes later he heard a short conversation between Ranger and someone on his phone, he knew they were informing him of his package. The tone in his voice was short and clipped, but satisfying to the man. 'Time you paid up Manoso', he thought.

A short time later he saw as he sat outside the hospital, Manoso climb into his Porsche and peeled out of the lot. Within five minutes he had received another text that Ranger was seen traveling down the street of Haywood towards his office and the man put his final portion of the plan into motion.

He stepped from his car and moved toward the sliding door at the front of the hospital. He met up with two of his men inside and without any words they went to the stairs while their signal jammers were causing all video feeds to be cut off. Making their way to the intended floor, another man nodded his head informing them that all that were on the ICU floor were taken care of.

Stepping out onto the floor itself it was quiet and a smile grew across his face seeing the two bodyguards on the floor, darts in both of their necks. The waiting room was completely empty and the nurses and doctors were slumped over on the desks or laying on the floor as well. His men spread out to remove all equipment he had used to monitor the areas and he moved quickly into Stephanie's room. He heard the beeping of her monitor and gazed at her laying in the bed. She looked like such an angel. Her curls wildly splayed across the pillow, no bandages on her head, but a few scrapes still remained, noting this, he would make sure that none of them scared her beautiful face.

He pulled the hospital blankets from her body and took her in with hungry eyes; she was truly beautiful, no matter what she wore. Turning off her monitors and removing her wires, he then opened the blanket that he held for her and wrapped her body in it. Pulling the IV fluids from their pole and laying them on her chest, he then picked her up from the bed and snuggled her into his chest. Taking in the scent of her he bent his head down to her and said, "Come darling, we are going home now. You will never have to see these people again. I'll give you everything that you could ever want or need."

Walking out the door and to the staircase that would lead to the back of the hospital, where he knew his car would have been moved and running had made his way down the stairs and quickly laid her down in the back of the SUV. He climbed into the back with her and as the door closed the car speed off to the airport to start their journey.

He held her in his arms reverently, looking at her and caressing her face with the back of his hand, he just couldn't seem to keep from touching her. She was his, and he had no intention of letting her go, he was determined to make her happy, no matter what it took.

Pulling into the airport, and right up to the nondescript plane, the SUV door was opened and he climbed out without any difficulty even though she was in his arms. Making his way to the plane he nodded to the driver of the car and then the man left. All of his helpers knew to keep their mouths shut; some were coming to work for him permanently, but at different locations than he would be at this time. Others were just happy to be called upon when he needed assistance, all of whom had a beef of their own with Manoso and had sworn their silence.

Climbing into the plane the doctor made a gesture towards the bedroom at the back. Stephanie was placed in the center of the bed and the doctor did a quick scan of her, placing the IV on a hook on the wall. He took the line and injected a medication that he said would make the journey easier on her, but that they would need to keep a close eye on her over the next few days. "She needs to wake up gradually, and be kept as calm as possible until we can gain a better understanding of what damage the accident has caused. When we arrive we can take her to the house and then once she wakes up we can take her to the hospital and have another scan done. She'll be fine; I'll make sure of it." He smiled at me and patted me on my shoulder.

"Thank you." he said.

"Anything for you my friend." His friend said with a smile. "Go ahead and climb in bed with her, and come out when you're ready to talk about where we should go from here. I'll stay at the house as long as you would like me to." The doctor offered.

He nodded and climbed in bed with Stephanie. This time when he touched her there was electricity that coursed through his veins that he couldn't explain. His heart was thudding in his chest and he couldn't help but lean over and placing a soft kiss to her red lips. As the plane ascended his mind soared with all the dreams that he had for his life with Stephanie, and what their future would be like together. He couldn't wait to get started.

**Alright, so what do you think of Mr. Creepy now? Personally I love him. Hehe. He's evil but still loveable. I know, I'm crazy, but he's been a lot of fun to write. Let me know what you think of this chapter. **

**Ok So I'm offering a challenge. Certain parts of this story are going to be inter-active. Every once in a while include a poll which will take place later on in the story. For those that participate, you will get sneak peek at a portion of next weeks update. Thanks for playing along.**

**This weeks poll: Joe is going to attacked by something. What should he be attacked by?**

**Ducks**

**A Merry Man**

**Stephanie's Knee**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it. So the poll for the last chapter is closed, and the winner will be included in a future chapter. I am looking forward to the challenge. Thank you to all who participated. I will post another poll next week as well. **

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 5

Joe Morelli made his way home after a long day on the job, near exhaustion. He had wanted to go and check on Stephanie this evening, but a double homicide had him tied up all afternoon and into the evening. He knew that Stephanie would be waking up any day now and he wanted to be there and the first thing that she saw when she did wake up. He planned to tell her that they were going to get married as soon as she was out of the hospital, that she would be quitting her job and cutting off any contact with Rangeman. He knew she would put up a fight at first, but with Ranger out of the picture he would finally get his way. He had won and he intended on making good on that.

Pulling into his driveway he was oblivious to what was going on around him. It was dark outside and as he made his way to his porch all he could think about was the nice warm bed that was upstairs and that soon he would be sharing it with Stephanie permanently. As he stepped up the stairs of his porch, he pulled out his house key, but froze in his progress when he saw a large box that stood directly in his path. The giant box was nondescript, and was addressed to him. No other markings could be seen from his vantage point, and the limited lighting on his porch which came from the street light directly behind him, since he had not turned on his porch light that morning, didn't allow for much to be seen.

Since the box was blocking his entrance to the house, he attempted to move it aside and noticed how heavy it was. With a good shove he moved it out of his way, thinking 'who sends a package this big?' and 'where did it come from?'. Joe finally opened his door and reached inside to turn on his porch light. Nothing more could be seen on the outside of the box, so he dragged it into his house without further thought. Closing the door behind him he made his way to the kitchen to grab a beer from the refrigerator, cracking it open and taking a big gulp. He tossed his keys on the counter, and made his way to the box once again, shaking his head at the sheer size of it. He noticed an odd odor in the hallway, but dismissed it quickly; maybe he just needed to clean the house. Standing in front of the box he wondered what was in it and pulled a Swiss army knife from his pocket and cut open the top. He noticed the increase in the odd odor coming from the now open box that had only lingered in the air before, but now was beginning to fill the room. The feeling of dread was growing in his stomach as he started to recognize what that smell could be. As he opened the flaps of the box he noticed there were quiet a few packing peanuts flitting to the floor, he shook his head in disgust at having to clean up the mess they would certainly make of his living room.

He caught sight of a sheet of paper on the top of all the peanuts, and quickly flipped it over only to suck in a breath at what he read from the page.

_Morelli,_

_ You've had your last chance and wasted every opportunity. Never again will you be able to have her for your own._

Anger radiated through him and his first thought was, 'how does she get herself into this shit?' and then, 'oh please god don't let this be Stephanie'. Without a second thought to what he was doing he had ripped the side of the box and the peanuts went flying everywhere, destroying any evidence that could have been left behind as well. When the peanuts finally started to settle down he found his floor covered in them, some blood, and the lower portion of a body, too big to be Stephanie, at first he was flooded with relief that it wasn't her, but then the bile started to rise in his stomach and he flung himself up the stairs to throw up in his toilet. The jeans on the body were covered in blood and had what looked to be knife holes scattered all over them. It was fairly obvious after a few moments of thought, once his stomach had settled down, that it was the lower portion of a male.

Joe called the station to let them know what had arrived at his doorstep and the station was routing the black and whites his direction. With that call made Joe moved towards the body on his floor and searched the pant pockets finding a wallet in the back left pocket. Opening it, Joe was nearly sick again when he discovered that this was the man they had been looking for that blew up Stephanie's car and had put her in the hospital this time. The next thought that crossed his mind was, 'oh God Cupcake'. He knew there was no way this package was from Ranger. If that man wanted to end someone you would never find the body. This was someone else and he had no clue who, and then realization set in, he had just destroyed the evidence that could possibly have led them to this person.

XXXXXX

Across town Ram's call was not answered and he looked at all of the men standing in the room with him and shook his head. At the same moment Ranger's phone rang, "Yo" he answered.

"Boss, a call just came across the scanner that black and whites are heading to Morelli's house. He was sent half of a body in a large package that was on his porch when he arrived home." Ranger looked around the room at the faces and he couldn't speak for a moment.

"Get a team over there to his house to find out what's going on, and another car over to the hospital now. I want the closest car there yesterday." At that Ranger shut his phone. He looked at his men blank face in place and headed for the door at a run with all of them following.

"What's going on Boss?" Lester asked as they made their way into the garage.

"Half a body was delivered to Morelli's house tonight. My guess is that it's the other half of what we received." The stunned faces did nothing to slow them down; they all jumped into their vehicles and sped off toward the hospital breaking just about every traffic signal known to man. They had to get to Stephanie.

Screeching to a halt just outside the doors to the hospital Ranger and his men made their way to the ICU where Stephanie's room was located. When they opened the door they were greeted only by the soft beeping of monitors, but nothing else. No one was visible in the hallway. All the men drew their weapons and quickly, but quietly scanned their surroundings. Making their way closer to Stephanie's room they found nurses and doctors sprawled on the floor. Then, they noticed the bodies of their comrades and friends on the floor just out side her room. All of them but Ranger stopped in their tracks for a moment.

Ranger rushed into her room and came to a halt at the foot of the bed. Looking down on the bed that was now empty, Ranger stood in stunned silence, anger radiated from him and a loud roar was torn from his chest. All of the men in the hallway rushed into the room and were shocked to see Ranger down on his knees panting, trying to regain control of the emotions that were coursing through his veins. There were very few others times that he remembered feeling this way, when Stephanie had been taken by Scrog, when Ranger found Stephanie in the cupboard where Stiva has shoved her and he thought that he had been too late, and hearing that she had been taken by the Slayers.

No matter how he had tried to protect her, Ranger had failed yet again to keep her safe from whoever had her. And the worst part about it, they had no idea who had taken her, the man that they were looking for that caused her explosion was dead and half of him was residing at Rangeman at the moment.

After a few minutes Ranger stood and turned to his men with hollow eyes, all of them saddened by the fact that the one who had made them feel whole again was gone. Tank stepped forward and placed his hand on his friends shoulder, "We'll find her Rangeman." With that all the guys turned around and moved out into the hall letting the door close behind them. They knew he needed a few minutes to collect himself, regardless of the fact that he was planning on leaving her behind, they all knew that Ranger loved Stephanie with everything in him.

Exiting the room he spoke in a flat tone, "I want this room dusted for prints. I want the entire security system of the hospital scanned for who could have done this. Whoever it is has connections and money to be able to pull this off. I want a name and I want it now." With that, Ranger stalked off leaving Tank in charge of the investigation.

Ranger jumped into his car and raced over to Morelli's house. There were lights flashing all along the street and Ranger had to park a few houses down. Wanting to run to the house, but knowing he needed to show no deference, he walked up the porch casually gaining a few quizzical gazes from the officers all around, but no one approached him. The silence of the room was becoming deafening.

Morelli noticed the quiet that had fallen in his house and turned to see what was going on, when he noticed Ranger stalking towards him. "What are you doing here? This is a police matter. Get out of my house." Morelli sneered.

"Let me guess, you received the bottom portion of Jessie Jones." Ranger said flatly.

Morelli just stared at him, not knowing what to say. None of that information had been released, and he had just found out in the last 30 minutes himself. Receiving no response from Morelli, Ranger continued. "I have the other half at my office. It was delivered about sixty minutes ago with no note. It's being processed as we speak. Did your box have any notes or anything besides the body?" Ranger asked flatly, his body giving away none of the anger and anxiety he felt over what was taking place.

Morelli was fuming at this point. "That body belongs at the TPD lab. Some one will be by to pick it up." Morelli turned to walk away, but was grabbed from behind by Ranger and forced to look at him.

"Steph was taken from the hospital tonight Morelli. I just came from there. Was. There. A. Note.?" Ranger growled out each word.

Morelli stood staring at the man in front of him at a loss for words, 'Stephanie was gone?'. "How can she be gone? No alarm went off at the hospital. You had men on her door 24/7. How can she be gone?" Morelli screamed.

"All of the staff, including my men were drugged. It had to have happened in a matter of thirty minutes or less, probably around the time that these packages were delivered." Ranger explained flatly as Morelli just glared at him.

Eddie approached breaking the staring match, handing a plastic bag to Ranger and stepping into Morelli's path as he tried to prevent Ranger from reading it. Ranger growled, before handing the bag back to Eddie and turning around to leave. Morelli shouted at Ranger's retreating form, "Once I find Stephanie she will never see you again Ranger. You will be out of her life for good this time." Ranger just kept walking. He knew he would find her without the help of the TPD. He just needed to figure out where to start looking.

As Joe stood and watched Ranger walk out of his house he heard someone say, "I'd laugh if this situation wasn't so serious. Honestly I'm scared for Steph, but think about it, Joe was sent a man's ass. Seems to me like the perfect symbol for his behavior and how he treated Steph. Whoever this person they seem to have a very good idea of what goes on around here. I just hope we can get to her before something truly horrible happens to her. Then maybe Steph will kick Joe to the curb for good." Joes' fists clenched at his sides hearing those remarks, but he was unable to reply, he just stalked off into the kitchen, grabbed another beer and chugged it.

XXXXXX

The next day found the sun shinning high in the sky and Stephanie lying in a king size bed, a nice breeze blowing into the room through the open French doors that led to the balcony overlooking a large courtyard below and the Mediterranean Sea out past the edge of the property. The quiet beep of the heart monitor and the shuffle of covers being laid back down in their place, the only sounds heard coming from the room. The nurse had taken her time to wash Stephanie's hair and give her a sponge bath before placing her in a satin blue nightgown and settling her back into the bed.

As the nurse walked out she smiled at the man that entered the room and informed him that she was done and she would let the doctor know that he could come and check on his patient. The man returned her smile, nodded and walked into the room.

Standing at the foot of the bed, staring down at Stephanie he took in her beauty. He thought to himself 'I will never get tired of looking at you my love'. The rise and fall of her chest made his heart swell and his dreams to run wild with what his future would be like with this woman. Now he just needed a plan to convince her to stay with him and everything would be perfect.

_Stephanie was slowly starting to come out of the fog, in the recesses of her brain she heard a voice saying to her 'I can't be what you need me to be. My life is too dangerous for you. I'm leaving town permanently. It's for the best babe.' There was an ache growing in her chest that she couldn't explain to herself and her brain wouldn't allow her to think about it anymore and she was taken over again by darkness. _

**So, what did you think? Please let me know, I'd love to hear yout thoughts. Depending on how things go this week I may be able to post the next update on Monday and then another on Wedneday, but if not definitely Wednesday for sure. Thanks for reading along. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 6

The Rangeman crew had been working none stop after pulling apart the hospital room that Stephanie had been in. They had found nothing in the room or anywhere on the entire floor that would give them a clue to where she had gone or who had taken her. The only thing that they had found was a few fibers of blue fleece that had fallen to the floor next to her bed.

The cameras to the hospital security system were absolutely no help, they weren't working at the time she had been taken. Somehow they had been jammed the entire time, and all cameras within a 150 ft radius had been knocked out to the entrance and exit of the hospital. It was clear where they had come in and where they had exited based on the camera outage, but no one was seen. No one remembered seeing anyone that didn't belong in the area, or over the course of the week before. The nurses and doctors had a steady influx of patients coming and going from this unit so they were no help.

The boxes had been absolutely no help either, there had been no fingerprints or anything outside the DNA of the victim that had been enclosed in it.

Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary in the burg' in previous weeks, but once again Stephanie was the topic of many among the community. All the conversations seemed to center around how much trouble she got into and the fact that she should settle down with that 'nice Morelli boy', that is if she was found.

Mr. Plum had been immediately informed by Ranger, at their home, that Stephanie was missing and given the details of what they had. Helen Plum on the other hand had accused her daughter of being reckless and would eventually turn up, and that once she did she would be settling down with Joseph to settle in as the 'nice little burg wife' she had been raised to be. At which time Frank had marched his wife to the house, pushed her in the door and closed it behind her, to deal with later.

"Ranger, I know we'll find her. What can I do to help?" Frank asked him.

"General, at this point there is nothing to go off, other than a few fibers of blue fabric. We have nothing." Ranger sighed.

Frank looked at the man before him and could see that he was having a hard time holding it together. He nodded his head towards the garage and Ranger followed him. Once inside, Frank sat on a metal stool up against the wall and looked the man over. In the last two weeks he had seen him at his daughters' side and never faltered, but he knew this man had something heavy on his shoulders, something more than just Stephanie's disappearance.

The silence went on for a while before Frank finally broke it, "What's on your mind soldier?" Frank said in his commander voice.

Ranger snapped his head up to look his former commanding officer in the face. "I was planning to leave that night sir. I was going to move down to Miami permanently to prevent things like this from happening, and it happened anyway. It seems like I am always failing her."

Frank looked him in the eye and asked, "You were going to leave my daughter behind." he stated, it wasn't a question more of a statement of fact.

"Yes sir." Ranger replied.

"Why?" Frank replied. "I know how you feel about her. Everyone does. Why give up something that you feel so strongly about behind, when you could both be happy together and work together to prevent these situations?"

Ranger just stared at Frank without answering. Frank nodded, stood and turned to leave the garage, "Then you better head down to Miami now. You have no business being here." At that Frank walked out the door without looking back. The man that he thought loved his daughter more than life itself, and probably did, was a coward. No matter what he thought of the man as a soldier, he was a coward as a man, and his daughter didn't deserve that.

Ranger could only stand there and watch a man that he had respected his entire military career walk away from him with a look of disgust. Ranger had never felt more pain in life, not only was the love of his life gone without a trace, but his former commander, his soul mates father thought him a coward and no longer worthy of her love. And the saddest part of it all, was that he was right, he didn't deserve her love.

Frank entered his house and was immediately assaulted by his wifes' complaints and constant put downs of Stephanie that he finally exploded at her after listening to thirty minutes of 'why me', and 'how could I have had a daughter who…'. Frank rounded on Helen and looked her in the eye, "Shut up. I've had enough of you for one evening. If I hear another word come out of your mouth about how horrible 'your daughter is' one of us will be living somewhere else, do I make myself clear." Helen stood rooted to her spot, wide eyed and mouth a gape. "You have never done anything for our daughter other than criticize and complain about her. I have had enough of it. This is not Stephanie's fault. She did not ask for someone to kidnap her. She was doing her job when she was hurt, which by the way she is damn good at, much to your dismay. You must be miserable in your own life to feel that it's necessary to put down your own daughter that has the courage to live her own life the way she wants to, when you didn't. No one is to blame for that other than you. When I find _my_ daughter, you will make an effort to make things right with her. Do I make myself clear?" Frank glared at her but she said nothing.

"If you have nothing to say to me then I suggest that you get dinner on the table Helen." She turned and headed to the kitchen ready to finish their meal and get away from the husband that before today had never raised his voice to her once, yet another thing to blame Stephanie for in her opinion.

Frank was making calls to his military connections to get the word out that Stephanie was missing and making sure that eyes and ears all over the world would be looking for his daughter. He had no clue who had done this, but he would be damned if he was going to sit back and let Ranger's crew do this alone. Without Ranger in the picture, Frank would be taking over the search for his daughter.

The last phone call that Frank made was to Tank directly. Answering with a "Yo."

Trying to keep from laughing at the response he received as a greeting, his only reply "Tank."

Quickly he could tell the energy change on the other end. "General Plum. What can I do for you sir?" Tank replied.

"I had a talk with Ranger and told him to follow thru with his plans before Stephanie disappeared, so I will be taking over the search for my daughter. If you and your men would like to assist, that would be appreciated, but not required." Frank explained.

"Sir, Rangeman is at your disposal. We will do anything we can to bring her back safe and sound sir." Frank could hear the seriousness in the other mans' voice. "I doubt that Ranger will be going anywhere until she is found sir." Tank offered.

"He told me he was planning on leaving her behind anyway Tank. This shouldn't make any difference, and until he can prove to me that he is anything other than a coward in his personal life I don't want him anywhere near my daughter or this investigation." Frank replied sternly.

"Understood sir, but I don't see him giving up on looking for her, he has always been the one to find her in the past, I doubt that he intends for that to be any different this time." Tank explained. "I know how you feel about him this moment personally sir, and I am 100 percent in agreement with you, but maybe this is the kick in the ass that he needed to get his head out of his ass."

Frank let that thought sink in before he responded, "True, but this isn't the first time she has been taken, and he still planned on leaving her, therefore we will be going forward as I see fit from this point out."

"Yes sir, but just so you know, this is the first time that he has admitted how he felt about her before she disappeared." He said.

"Really?" Frank questioned. "He told you how he felt?"

"No sir, he told Morelli." Tank replied.

"Interesting." Frank thought for a moment before continuing. "I'll meet you tonight at 10pm at Rangeman to go over what I have and we will go from there."

"Very good sir, 10pm." and Frank disconnected. He sat and thought about everything that had happened in the last two weeks, the accident, the diagnosis at the time, the confrontation between Ranger and Helen, the conversation Edna had told him she had with Ranger, hearing about Morelli and his demands, now his little girl was missing, taken from her hospital bed by some unknown. Taking a few deep breaths he knew he needed to get his emotions under control before he could move forward.

Walking into the dinning room he came face to face with his wife, a look of anger crossed her face at his handling of her before, but he could care less, it was nothing less than what she deserved.

Edna came to join them at the table and they began to eat in silence. It felt like the life had been taken from the room, Frank was deep in thought but was brought back to reality by Edna's soft voice questioning, "You will find her, won't you Frank?"

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it in an assuring way and said, "Without a doubt Edna, I'll bring out little girl home, and who ever did this will pay." Their eyes met and she knew what he meant, and their quiet dinner continued. Helen wouldn't speak to either of them and quickly cleaned up the dishes and brought out dessert. The only surprise was that she didn't have a glass of wine of her Wild Turkey in hand the whole evening.

Once seated in his chair his phone began to ring and he got to work with his contacts. Not many in the burg' knew what he did outside of the post office, but it would probably be a well known fact soon when his military friends came to town. They had thier work cut out for them, but he would get his little girl back, no matter what.

Ranger made his way to Rangeman determined to figure things out in his mind. When he entered the elevator the car stopped on five, even though he had hit seven. Looking at the person that had caused the car to stop he looked directly at his second in command. The man stepped in the car and they took the ride silently up to the top together.

Once they entered the apartment and the door closed Tank let his fist fly and knocked Ranger flat on his ass. Surprising Tank, Ranger did nothing to prevent the hit and did nothing to get payback. He knew that he deserved it and more. Tank looked down at his long time friend and informed him of the conversation he had had with the General.

"He's taking over the search for his daughter and doesn't want you involved. I promised him any resources that he would need. He told me that he told you to follow through with your plans from before she disappeared, so why don't you go ahead and go. I won't have you upsetting her father when we're looking for her. We all need to be focused, so if you can't be of help to us, then do as he says and leave. You were planning on it anyway." Tank didn't wait for Ranger's response and left. Ranger sat on the floor and hung his head to his chest knowing that this was only the beginning. He had a long way to go to earn back the respect of his best friend and his former commander. The woman he loved had been taken from him and he was determined to get her back and set everything right.

Ranger arrived in the conference room shortly before 10pm and received a less than warm welcome from his staff. Lester was the only one that outright stared him down. He had become close to Stephanie more so than the rest of the Rangemen, even though they would all do anything for her, Lester loved her almost as much as Ranger did. Stephanie didn't know it, but he loved to spend time with her, they had an easy going relationship and teased each other constantly.

Tank cleared his throat and spoke before the General arrived, "I know you were all clearly informed what was going to take place in the next few days before Stephanie went missing. However, you need to put your feelings aside for him. Our first priority is to find Stephanie. You have an issue, take it up with him outside this room, and never in front of the General. Clear?" He received a round of 'Hooah' in response.

Ranger sat down in the back of the conference room feeling very out of place. He was used to sitting at the front of the table and giving orders. In this instance he was even exiled from the table, in his own company, it was a foreign feeling to him and he didn't like it.

General Plum entered the conference room and all the men stood at attention. "At ease men, you all know me on a more personal level than most that were under my command. Since this is about my daughter and not just another mission I expect you all to call me Frank. I will be running this search and rescue mission, but I am not your General. Understood?" Frank spoke clearly and to the point. His eyes met Ranger's in the back of the room for a moment before he dismissed any thoughts of Ranger's presence in the room.

At midnight, the meeting broke up and everyone had their jobs. Sleep would be the first course of action and then first thing tomorrow morning they would start their work. Many of them felt uncomfortable waiting, but they had already been working for three weeks straight. They needed sleep and there was nothing that could be done when contacts were sleeping anyway.

Ranger made his way to the gym to work off his anger for the entire situation. He wasn't a coward, he was strong, capable, organized and a very dangerous man when he needed to be. The word coward would never be used to describe him, yet all of his men looked at him in disgust, and the General refused to look at him once he noticed him in the room. Ranger taped up his hands and moved around stretching his body so he could let out his frustration on the heavy bag.

Before Ranger could make a move towards the heavy bag, the door to the gym was flung open hard enough to hit the wall, in marched Lester looking like his head was going to explode at any moment with his rage. Lester stalked towards Ranger and before Ranger could react Lester let his fists fly, one after the other. The best Ranger could do at first was block the punches that flew at him. After a moment he was fighting back just as wildly and aggressively as Lester. The groans and grunts as punches and kicks connected were loud, and the roars of frustration from each man seemed endless. They were both hurting, but they both knew where the blame should be laid and this spurred Lester on too, and for the first time, in all the sparring matches that he had fought with Ranger, he won without a doubt.

Both men were hurting, both men were panting from the exertion, but only one man stood on his feet, Lester. Looking down at Ranger, Lester finally spoke his first words since the fight began almost two hours before, "You are a miserable excuse of a man. That woman loved you and you were just going to leave her. You wouldn't have given her a choice and just left like the coward you are." He paused to look at the man at his feet, "You may be one of the best soldiers out there, and I'd trust you to cover my back in the line of fire, but I doubt that anyone of us will trust you with Stephanie again once we find her. The woman that we all love would have been broken if you had followed through with what you had planned. Anyone of us would give anything we have to have her love us the way that she loved you and you were willing to throw it away. I used to look up to you as a leader, but you've lost my respect as a man Ranger." With that said Lester walked off to his apartment to take a shower and head to bed. He was determined to find his Beautiful and make sure that she was alright.

Tank watched as Ranger and Lester battled it out in the gym and smiled to himself. This was only the beginning of what Ranger would face, but it would be the worst. Lester had known Ranger as long as Tank and he had no fear of the man himself, but the soldier, most definitely. The bad thing for Ranger now, he had lost a lot of respect from his employees and would have to work to gain it back, only time would tell how that would go.

Tank headed downstairs and met Lester in the hallway with a slight nod, Lester and Tank's eye met and they both knew they were ok with what had happened. Lester also knew that Tank held a healthy amount of respect for his actions in the gym. As second in command, Tank couldn't show his opinion about their boss and friend, he needed to keep the peace and keep the company moving forward regardless. He was good at his job, but he also knew how to let it be known when he agreed or disagreed with an individual.

**So there is another installment. I will be out of town starting this afternoon so that's why I posted today instead of tomorrow. I hope you liked it. The next update will take place on either Wednesday or Thursday, but it will be up. Have a great week and thanks for reading along. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it. **

**Now for your introduction to the Mystery Man. Enjoy.**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 7

Several days after their arrival, Stephanie started to come out of her drug induced coma and was beginning to make small movements. The doctor had said these were all good signs and that it gave them hope that there would be less damage from the swelling than originally thought by the doctors in Trenton. A few different medications had been administered since their arrival and her prognosis was very good. The EEG was showing improvements in activity and her rapid Eye movements were more frequent. The man was very relieved to hear this.

It was only a matter of time before she opened her eye and he wanted to make sure that he was the first thing that she saw. He needed to look into those gorgeous blue eyes and see what it was everyone saw that was so amazing, he wanted to see it for himself.

A few short hours later he stood against the wall opposite the bed that she lay in and watched her eyes flutter open slowly and adjust to the light. The French doors were allowing what little sunlight was left from the day, but she was getting an amazing view of the sunset from her place on the bed. A view that many would kill for, and he knew that he had done just that over the years. He saw her scan the room to take in her surroundings; cautiously she moved her head around wincing as the remains of the bump on her head hit the pillow as she moved.

When she finally turned her head in his direction his blank face had already slid into place. He didn't know what to expect, but he knew that he would have to keep her calm, no matter what. Her head was still not completely healed yet, and he wanted to make sure that she healed completely.

Their eyes finally met and he stared at her in wonder as he saw emotions fly across her face, confusion, weariness, a little fear and back to confusion. She went to move and he quickly moved to stop her, she cringed back at first, until he spoke, "You should lie still until the doctor comes back to check on you. I'll let him know that your awake now." his voice was deep and a hint of a southern accent, which seemed strange to her. Stepping away to make the call she grabbed his hand to stop him. He looked at her hand on his arm and looked back to her face and waited for her to speak.

"Do I know you? I don't remember anything. Where am I? What happened?" she asked softly. Stephanie didn't feel fearful of this man, but she wasn't familiar with anything or anyone around her, the real problem was that she couldn't remember anything about her life.

"Let me get the doctor so he can look you over, ok? You're safe here, I promise." The man smiled at her and it lit up his entire face. She was gazing into the most amazing blue eyes she had ever seen on a person. She may not remember anything or anyone, but for some reason she trusted that as a fact. His eyes were the color of blue sapphires, and she thought at that moment she could get lost in those eyes.

She nodded her head slightly in agreement and he moved to call the doctor. She took in his appearance as he stepped away. A tall man of about 6'2 to 6'4, blonde hair cut short in the back but a little longer in the front so that his bangs would fall over his eyebrow and could easily have a hand run through it to push it back out of his face. A muscular physique, that his clothes clung to, arms bulging with muscles and a tattoo hidden just under his left sleeve. She wondered what it was in that moment. He was dressed in skin tight light washed denim jeans and a tucked in blue and white striped polo shirt, around his neck he wore a solid gold rope chain that travelled down under the collar of his shirt. All she could think at the moment was 'wow'.

He turned back to her a moment later and she asked, "What's your name?"

She smiled at him and he replied with another smile, "Austin James Hamilton." He wondered if she had ever heard of him, but by the blank look on her face he guessed either she had never been told about him, or she was unable to remember at this time.

"I'm sorry I don't remember you Austin. Can I call you Austin?" She asked shyly.

His heart melted at that moment and he knew that he would be happy for the rest of his life with her. "Call me AJ. Everyone does. Let's talk with the doctor before we talk any further alright?" As he spoke, the doctor walked in and smiled at his patient and moved swiftly to begin his work with his now conscious patient.

After a short check of her mobility the doctor announced that he wanted to move his patient to the hospital to have a few scans done and then they could all talk about the results together. Fear flashed across Stephanie's face and AJ grabbed her hand squeezing it gently, "It'll be alright. It's just a precaution. I'm sure your just fine love." He said with a smile.

She settled down a bit, but looked at him with indecision clearly written on her face, "Will you stay with me?" she asked. She had this weird feeling when they touched each other that she couldn't explain, but when she took in his smile she thought that it meant everything was alright, she knew whatever the feeling was it wasn't fear.

AJ beamed at her request and was more than happy to accommodate her. They ate a small meal so that there would be some food in her stomach since they didn't know when they would be back. The nurse came into the room to help Stephanie get dressed. As Stephanie went to sit up she noticed the nurse go into the closet in the bedroom and come out with her clothes. In the nurses hand she held a pair of regular wash skinny jeans, and a blue cashmere three quarter length sleeve sweater. The bra and panties were made of the softest lace and matched the color of the sweater, black ballet slippers were placed on her feet, and her hair had been left loose around her shoulders since it had just been washed earlier in the day. She was helped to stand with ease, but AJ came into the room and saw her sway just a bit and moved to pick her up and carry her in his arms bridal style. She giggled and smiled as he moved her down the hallway and out to the car. Her first thoughts were 'how romantic of him'.

Looking back at the house, she realized that it wasn't a house at all; it was a mansion that was located at the top of a cliff. A two story white mansion with a tiled roof surrounded by flowers in vibrant colors and vines that trailed up the walls and over the edges of the balconies of each upstairs room. She wondered how she had come to be here in this beautiful home with this handsome man, but at the moment, she was happy to sit in the car next to that same man as they drove to the hospital for more tests. She took in the beauty of her surroundings even in the dark as lights along the road spotlighted the most important part of the city this time of the day.

Late in the evening Stephanie lay asleep in the room the doctor had placed them in and he walked in to speak about the results. The doctor spoke quietly with AJ first. "There has been a great deal of damage to the area of the brain mostly identified having to do with memory, both short term and long term. At this point, since the swelling is mostly gone, and her memory is not intact, I don't think that she will be gaining too much of it back. It may come back in small amounts, flashes of memories or, there may not be anything. We need to be very careful with how we break the news to her, if she gets too excited after just having woken from the coma I fear for other physical problems. She needs to stay calm and rest for at least the next week, then she can gradually work her way into activities, but nothing to aggressive for at least another three weeks.

"We'll need to look out for headaches, and eye pain as time passes. The pain should go away with time and the headaches and eye pain should become less frequent if not disappear completely." AJ just stared at his friend only hoping what he was hearing was the truth.

"You mean to tell me that she may never regain her memory?" AJ asked and received a nod in answer. "But, what about her personality? Would it be possible that her personality would be altered by this damage?"

"It's possible, but the inherent traits that she had will remain the same, but the traits that she grew to know could possibly be altered since the reasons for them have disappeared, but in cases like these people have been know to react as though they have their memories, but at the same time the memories don't exist for said person. It's kind of strange when you think about it, but actions are more ingrained and a natural reaction to a situation, just because the actual memory is not there, doesn't mean the body would respond any differently to it now with no memory than before with it." The doctor explained.

AJ felt like this was almost too good to be true. He felt like he had been given one of the biggest gifts possible. He would be able to persuade her to fall in love with him. Now he just needed to figure out how to go about it, and what name to give her now that she had no memory of anything.

They decided to wake Stephanie up and break the news to her. When she came awake she once again took in her surroundings and her eyes landed on AJ and a small smile crossed her lips. She was happy to see that he had done just what he told her he would, he stayed with her, even though she fell asleep on him, he didn't leave her, something in her was happy, but at the same time a little bit sad and she couldn't understand what it was.

AJ looked at her with a questioning gaze and she shook her head telling him it's nothing. He nodded and then the doctor began to explain what he had found. Silent tears began to stream down her face and she squeezed AJ's hand hoping that he would lend her some of the strength that she felt she needed at that moment.

She refused to say anything while they sat there in the hospital room as she silently wept for the loss of her memory. Thinking about it, she knew that she could go on about her life without it, but she didn't know anything about herself before this accident. She worried that AJ would want her to leave and then where would she go. She had nothing that she knew of, and she realized with a start that she didn't even remember her own name. AJ felt her tense and placed his arm around her shoulder lending her his strength, but she still didn't speak. The doctor thought it would be best to let her process the information that they had just given her and suggested that AJ take her home.

The ride back to the house was silent, but AJ kept looking over at her. She had not once asked him what her name was or what they were to each other and he knew that he would have to be ready for her questions. As they pulled into the property she spoke for the first time, "It's really beautiful here. How long have you owned it?"

"About four years now, and yes it is beautiful, but it pales in comparison to you love." He only spoke the truth as he saw it. Her beauty was more than what was on the surface. She absolutely glowed when she smiled.

"You're sweet." She took a deep breath and forged on, "When we get inside can I ask you some questions about myself? And anything that you can tell me would be helpful. I feel at a total loss here." She sniffed trying to hold the tears at bay.

"I will answer anything you ask love. I'd do anything for you." He said knowing that there was only one thing that he would never be able to do and that was sending her home to Trenton. She nodded her head and stared at the house that was lit up in the late evening.

The housekeeper greeted them at the door and informed them that she had placed a snack in the bedroom. They made their way up the stairs while Stephanie looked around at the art and in each room that had an open door, trying to remember being here before, and AJ thinking I hope I can answer all of her questions to her satisfaction.

In his bedroom, the room where she had woken up, they sat out on the balcony in the cool of the night and she began her questions. "What's my name AJ? I don't remember." She said sadly.

"Sara Michelle Hamilton." AJ replied. At first it didn't sound right to her, although vaguely familiar. To her for some reason Michelle sounded more right than Sara. And Hamilton, that was AJ's last name.

"Hamilton? We have the same last name." She replied sounding confused.

"Yes, we're married." AJ informed her. Her eyes went wide at that admission, but she didn't know what to feel.

"Married? For how long? And did I go by my middle name, for some reason Michelle seems more familiar than Sara." She asked.

"Yes you did go by Michelle. We haven't been married that long, only a few months." AJ told her with a smile. He could see the questions in her eyes and then they turned to sadness and the tears began to roll down her face again.

Standing quickly, he took her in his arms and rocked her back and forth, "Love, it's alright, everything will be ok. What has you so upset?" He asked with a pain filled voice. He wanted to rid her of any pain anyone had ever caused her.

"I'm so sorry AJ." She said in between sobs. "I can't even remember my own husband. You must hate me." She continued to cry as he stroked her back and continued to rock her.

"No love, I could never hate you. You are my world, my light, my everything. You may have lost your memory, but I get to help you fall in love with me, now. Please don't cry love." AJ comforted her. "I promise everything will be fine. I would never leave you."

She calmed down after a few minutes and accepted the warmth of his embrace. Her body was growing tired rather quickly and AJ picked her up and moved back into the bedroom. He went into the closet and pulled out a nightgown for her, this one in a nice aqua lace and silk. When she slipped it over her head it slide down her body like it was made for her. Standing, it fell to just above the knee and there was a slight slit up each side for ease of movement. The v neck was made of lace and caressed her breasts making them look pert and full. She made her way to the bathroom to clean up and AJ watched her every move.

While she was in the bathroom, he changed into an aqua colored pair of silk boxers. He knew that the erection that he was sporting would be easily seen, but he wanted her to know that he wanted her physically, to replace the feeling that he may not want her. She needed to know that he desired her now, as she was.

When she stepped out of the bathroom, their eyes locked on each other and after a moment he moved towards her, pulling her into his arms and holding her close. He knew what her issues were from her previous relationships, her fears of being cheated on, of being left behind without a choice or say in the matter, and he was going to make sure that if she still held those insecurities now that they would be gone forever.

He rubbed his erection into her and said, "You do this to me love, you make me want you with everything that I am. I know that you need time, both to heal and to get comfortable with the idea of having to start new with no memory, but I'm not going anywhere without you. You are the only woman for me, and I will be as patient as you need me to be. I'm yours love, for as long as you want me."

A sizzle was running through Stephanie's body and she absorbed his words, and his touch. She could feel the truth of his words, but something she couldn't explain seemed different than she expected. She felt herself melt into his embrace and as he moved her into the bed and climbed in next to her, he enveloped her in his arms and just held her close. There was no pressure for more, it was enough just to be together. Yes she had a lot to find out, and learn about her former self, but at this moment she was in no hurry to find out. At this moment she felt content, loved and safe. Somehow, she thought that this feeling had not been something that she had felt all that often. She would have to ask AJ about that in the morning.

**So what do you think about our Mystery Man? Personally I think he is lovable, but I'd like to hear what you think. Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing. It's a lot of fun to hear from you. Have a great week and there will be more to come soon. Hopefully Monday, but definitely Wednesday next week. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. All mistakes are mine.**

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes 8

It had been a month since Stephanie had disappeared and they hadn't found anything to give them a lead to who had taken her. The hospital had been no help what so ever, the surveillance cameras were all taken out. The boxes that the body had been shipped in had no prints of anyone they could identify as a threat, and Rangemans' own security system had been breached. Whoever this was, they knew what they were doing, which is exactly what had them all on edge. No one knew who had her, and they had no idea what was happening to her. With the number of enemies that all the guys had accumulated over the years the possibilities were really endless, and their imaginations were starting to make sleep hard to come by. As soon as they closed their eyes, they imagined her being abused both sexually and emotionally, seeing her body beaten, eyes hollow stared up at them from where they would see her laying on the floor, realizing it was too late to save her. The gym had really become the busiest place in the building at all hours of the day.

The life blood of Rangeman had been completely sucked out, there was tension between all of the men and their boss, although they never let that get in the way of performing their jobs, they still followed his orders for takedowns and day to day work, but how they responded to the man himself outside of working hours was nothing like it had been in the past.

Since Frank had stepped up to head the investigation they had reached out to all of their military and government contacts. Her picture had been given out to many contract and currently enlisted men and women on the off chance that they came across her.

They also didn't know what the extent of the damage Stephanie had suffered from the bomb. The last scans that had been performed before she went missing showed a large amount of swelling, but they were unable to determine if there was any permanent damage she may have suffered. In talking with the doctor, she could have suffered memory loss, paralysis, or any number of other temporary or even permanent damage; they wouldn't know for sure anything until they could examine her after she woke up. No one wanted to think of the worst case scenario, but as time passed it was becoming more and more difficult to hold on to high hopes that they would find her alive and well.

No attempt at contact had been made by the kidnapper, and no new information was coming in. Frustration was at an all time high.

Morelli had been to Rangeman several times to rant about their lack of cooperation with the TPD and the fact that he was being left out of the investigation completely was only making him more of a problem. When Frank heard about his appearance while he was in the building he took matters into his own hands and walked to the elevator and headed down to the lobby.

As the elevator doors opened he heard the ranting of a pissed off Italian man that didn't know how to control his temper or when to keep his mouth shut. "That's enough." Frank commanded, causing Morelli to look at him with a stunned expression. Morelli had never known Frank to be demanding or aggressive. "You will not come into a place of business and rant like a spoiled child. You haven't been included in this investigation because you would be absolutely no help. You don't have the connections that these men, or myself have."

Morelli was stunned; he had assumed that Frank was at home waiting for news. "Frank, I know you're worried about her, but I can help. Ranger is blocking every effort I make to get involved."

"No, he's not," he paused and looked Morelli directly in the eye, "I am." He paused to let that sink in before continuing. "I'm in charge of this case, and you will stay out of it. This is my daughter, who you treated like dirt." Frank glared at the man in front of him. "And when she returns home, I will make sure that you have no contact with her. You're a good cop Morelli, but a lousy boyfriend. Don't think that I don't know that you've degraded her and cheated on her. She deserves better than you and she will get it." Frank replied.

"What? And Ranger is good for her? He'll get her killed. He's probably the reason she's missing." Morelli shouted is complete disbelief. He had always known that Frank Plum was never his biggest fan, but he never thought he felt so strongly in his disapproval.

"Whether he's responsible or not doesn't matter. Steph has gotten into trouble, all on her own, her whole life, it's who she is. And at times there was trouble that you have helped her to get into, you're no angel Morelli. There were even times that you with held information that could have kept her safe. Don't think that I don't know about some of the cases that you were working on that she gave you information to solve your case, but received nothing but grief in return. You never accepted her the way she is. He does! But I never said he was better for her. Don't go twisting what I say to fit your own agenda." Frank commented.

"Frank, I have more connections than you, I should be allowed to help. You need me." Morelli argued with his fists clenched tightly at his sides. His face was growing redder and redder the more Frank spoke to him.

Frank just stared at the man with a blank face thinking, 'what an arrogant ass', "You have no idea who I am do you?"

Morelli just stared at him. "You know what, never mind. If you're stupid enough to make a comment like that then your head must be shoved so far up your ass that you've never seen the light of day. Get out of here, or I'll have you arrested for trespassing." Frank stated as he turned and walked to the elevator dismissing Morelli.

Morelli just stared at his back not knowing what to say.

Upstairs on five, the men laughed and whooped it up for the first time in over a month. It was good to see Morelli handed his ass, and the General hadn't even thrown a punch. As they waited for the ascent of the elevator each man wished they had been able to get in Morelli's face as Frank had done and completely shut him down. They had all hated the way that Morelli had treated their Bombshell, but they also knew that Steph had always wanted to make her own decisions; they were not willing to be just another group that took her decisions away from her. Morelli and her mother did that enough for everyone.

When the doors to the elevator opened and Frank stepped out everyone stood and gave a very large round of applause. Frank stood still and enjoyed the feelings that were coursing through him. He wished that he had done this sooner, stood up for his daughter when she was actually around to see it, but he would be correcting that mistake as soon as they found her.

Frank stood straighter and the clapping finally died down. Feeling a presence behind him he turned to see Ranger standing in his doorway to see what was going on. Turning back to the men who had all taken a parade rest stance, he spoke, "Damn that felt good. I only wish I had done that sooner." There were some chuckles heard around the room. "I wanted to thank all of you for all of your work and support of my daughter through the years. I want to assure you that I will never again stand by and let anyone hurt my daughter, verbally or physically. You have all been there for her when I haven't, and I assure you that once we get her back I intend to show her that I have her back. You all have done for her what I should have done her entire life." There were a few head bobs in response. "Now, let's get back to work on finding our girl."

There was a resounding response of 'hooah'.

XXXXXX

A month later, only two months after Stephanie had gone missing, Morelli was seen with another woman at Rossini's, decked out in a dark suit and tie, behaving more like every gentlemen should, something that he had never once done for Stephanie. Word got out that Morelli was moving on, and this was not the first time he had been seen out with different women, but it was the first time in a romantic setting. Angie and Bella Morelli could not have been more pleased that he was moving on from the woman that they knew was never any good for their precious Joey, but then again no woman would ever be good enough in their eyes.

A few members of the burg' spoke against his actions, but the majority of them were just happy for the new gossip. Lula and Connie had both spoken out against his moving on, since he had claimed he loved her, but accepted it eventually when they acknowledged that he was never right for their friend. However, their desire to have their friend back didn't hamper their desire to be up on the latest gossip, or prevent them from spreading rumors of their own. On several occasions the Merry Men had left the bonds office without saying a word to the pair because of what they were trying to sell, information about Stephanie that was private, or even once walking in to hear them talking about the Merry Men themselves in a less than flattering light. They knew that if Stephanie was around no such talk would have ever happened, but without her censure of their activities, Connie and Lula had become overly involved in the lies the burg grapevine was so willing to spread. Rangeman was seriously thinking of ending its contract to pick up High Bond FTA's for Vinnie. Money wasn't everything and loyalty for their family, and that's what the Bombshell was, family, was by far more important to them.

Ranger had been spending all of his time outside of work in his seventh floor apartment alone. Other than business he didn't speak to anyone, he never went out with anyone from work and refused to speak with his family as well. His world had become dark and desolate without her in it, and the only reason he didn't take a mission at this point was because he wanted to be there when they found her and brought her home. He didn't want to miss a minute of it.

He ran his own searches up in his apartment, away from the watchful eyes of his team, away from Frank, a man who he respected, but had managed to lose any respect the man held for him as a person. He had been taken to the mats by everyone of his Trenton crew and had heard that a few of the men from his other offices that had crossed Stephanie's path in the recent past were on their way to take their turn with him. His body had been badly beaten over the last month and he knew that, at least at this point, there was no end in sight. A man, who used to be the best on the mats, was now being taken down by several on his team. He was losing weight, because he couldn't eat, and he worked out too much for the amount of food he was consuming. They all knew why, and so did he, yet he couldn't stop himself.

They were all right, he was a coward. He was ready to walk away from the woman that brought light to his life. The saddest part, to him, was that if it had been his choice to live this way he probably would have been ok with it, but this wasn't his choice. The choice was taken from him, and now he had to fight to get back what was his. He was beginning to realize that this is what he would have done to her if he had left without giving her a choice and he didn't like it one bit. He needed to find Stephanie, and he was going to make everything up to her. He would do anything to earn her trust back, to apologize for everything he had put her through. She was his other half, his soul mate. He knew she was alive, he would feel it if she wasn't, but he just didn't know where. But he was determined to never give up.

Grandma Mazur had moved into Stephanie's apartment and stated that she had no intension of letting Helen give it up while her favorite granddaughter was missing. Helen had claimed that it was a waist of money to pay to keep the apartment when they had no idea where she was or if she would be coming back. Grandma was determined to stay there until Stephanie was brought home and could move back into her own space. She knew that her granddaughter would need something familiar when she finally returned home, and there was no doubt in her mind that she would be back.

Edna had changed in the months since Stephanie had gone missing. Suddenly being so outrageous wasn't quite as fun as it used to be. She was getting along a lot better with her son-in-law, but then again, maybe that was because they weren't around each other as much. Not that Frank had been around the house much since their girl had disappeared, he spent every waking moment at Rangeman or following up leads, but he also made sure to let her know what was going on with their search.

Edna was no longer the one to pass gossip around like she used to, she didn't need to be the center of attention. There were even times when she would put a stop to different stories that were flying around the gossip mills rather than help them grow. She had managed to take on Stephanie's roll of defending those that couldn't defend themselves. Her weekly visits to the Cut N Curl weren't as colorful as in the past. Her hair was a soft grey that she now wore in slight waves, instead of her usual blue or pink hue with tight curls. Now instead of people running for cover when Edna Mazur was heading their direction, they all watched in silence as she walked by, one hand on her purse strap and the other in her pocket, shoulders slightly slumped and a dullness in her gaze. There was pity in the eyes of the passersby, but none were bold enough to say anything out loud.

The investigation was stalling. Nothing had been found, no one had seen her, and none of them had a clue where to go from here. They were all ex-military men, used to having a plan of action, used to finding the clues, solving the problem and following a plan to completion. The only problem was, they had nothing. Where did they go from here?

**Alright, so here is another installment of 'Blue Eyes'. I hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R I love to hear what you think. **

**And, it's time for another poll. Those who participate in this poll by Friday will get a sneak peek at the update for next week. So this weeks question is:**

**Edna gets her hands on a gun and it accidentally goes off. Who should get in the way?**

**Helen**

**Bella Morelli**

**Ranger**

**If you would like you can always suggest where they catch the bullet as well. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it. So the poll for the last chapter is closed, and the winner will be included in a future chapter. I am looking forward to the challenge. Thank you to all who participated. I will post another poll next week as well.**

**Warning: For those who don't like to see Stephanie with other characters, you may not want to read this update. **

**I have another version of this chapter that will be posted on PlumFanFictionRestricted yahoo group that is the orginal. It turned out a bit more detailed than was appropriate for FanFiction. It should be up sometime today if you would like to check it out there as well. **

Behind Blue Eyes 9

As the time passed Stephanie was learning more and more about herself. AJ told her of her relationship with her mother. The woman sounded horrible and it was no wonder she had no interest in returning to Trenton before she lost her memory. If being judged and compared to others was the only way for her mother to speak to her, Stephanie had no interest in seeking that treatment out now. She could completely cut that part of her life out, now, and she thoroughly intended to. She had a few snippets of memories as AJ told her of her past, but there were no faces, only the feelings of sadness.

Her former relationships sounded terrible, yet another reason to never go back. A feeling of shame lay heavy on her heart when she thought of how those other men had cheated on her, or pushed her away into the arms of another. Why would she want to remember and relive that? She had flashes of feelings that rocked her to her core with sadness when they spoke of her past, images of faceless men walking away from her, or being with other women, knowing they were together at that time, she couldn't explain how she knew, but she did, so she knew that AJ was telling the truth. She heard a voice in her head telling her to fix her relationship with another man, and from another instance 'I can't be what you need, you need to move on', leaving her to feel almost completely crushed by her memory. AJ was right, there was no need to return to Trenton and be looked at as a failure no matter what she had done. Anytime she seemed to have a flashback AJ would rock her in his arms and just let her cry. To her, AJ was a lifeline, and she had no intention of letting it go.

According to AJ, he came to Trenton for a visit and they met and fell in love. He had sworn that he would take care of her, to support her in anything that she had wanted to do. When he spoke of how he wanted to work with her, and help her to succeed in anyway she would let him, her heart melted. A feeling of pure joy flowed through her and she knew that AJ would be her rock. While there was a feeling of utter joy, in the background there was a feeling of grief, almost as if something had died within her, whether it was a hope, a dream, or a connection to something or someone she wasn't sure, but she felt that with AJ at her side she would be whole again soon.

AJ made sure to spend as much time with Stephanie as possible. He related stories of her mother and former flames in a way to make sure that she would not want to seek them out. Now, while he did not change the details, he may have highlighted certain things that she previously wouldn't have focused on. The yelling, the anger, the sadness, and pain that each of these people had caused her, but the one thing he made absolutely sure to never mention were any names. He knew that she was gaining some portions of her memory, but he wanted to make sure that he did as little to trigger as many flashes as possible. She had told him of some of the flashes, and he was happy to hear that it was more of emotions than actual recognition of the situation.

They took walks around the property, had picnic lunches, candle light dinners, dances to classical music, took drives in the country and walked on the beach. As she healed, her feeling towards AJ were growing, she only hoped that she could love him as much as she thinks that she may have before. He made her feel safe, almost whole and loved. Feelings that if she didn't know any better, she would think she had never felt before from anyone, complete acceptance. The look in his eyes told her how much he loved her, but she also saw some worry there as well. Was he worried that she wasn't getting better, that she wouldn't regain her memory, that she wouldn't love him enough?

It was on a warm evening, after her latest doctor's appointment about two month after she had woken up that she asked him to take her to the beach below the cliffs. The area was a private, and she wanted to talk to him about something. She was concerned that he was backing away from her emotionally, or at least protecting his own heart and she needed to know why. So she asked him while they stood there staring at the setting sun with his arm around her shoulder, her arm around his waist and their other hands together on his chest.

She leaned into his chest with her head and asked, "AJ, do you still love me the way you used to?" She worried he wouldn't.

He kissed her head and whispered, "I love you more now than I ever thought possible love. I want to be able to give you everything you want." He paused. "I want you for you, as you are now; please don't ever think that will change, because it won't"

She melted into his arms, her heart warmed with contentment and she slowly turned in his arms to face him, looking right in his eyes and leaning up to kiss his lips with reverence. She moved her hands up his chest, over his shoulders in a caress that was whisper soft and moved them ever so slowly up into his hair, pulling his mouth closer to hers. The kiss grew more and more passionate with each passing second. They had shared many kisses over the last two months, but this was something different between the two of them.

AJ started to pull back, but she wouldn't release him, "Love, I don't want to rush you." He said breathlessly against her lips, knowing that he was hard as a rock already. "We have all the time in the world." AJ was nervous that if they moved to fast he could hurt her, and he wasn't willing to do that. He wanted to make love to her with everything in him, to claim her as his own, but he wanted to make sure that she wanted him just as much, because losing her now was not an option to him.

"Make love to me AJ, I need you. I need to feel whole again, to feel that connection with you. Please." She kissed him with such passion that he almost lost all his control. She prayed that making love to him would bring back some sort of memory of what they had previously had together, but if it didn't, she would have a beautiful memory to build their new relationship with.

"I don't want to hurt you." He said on a shaky breath. "It would kill me if I hurt you."

"You won't." She said as she moved her lips down his neck, his hands fisted in her hair pulling her closer to his body. "I don't know when the last time we made love was," she whispered, "but I need to feel like your wife again, and it's been more than two months since I woke up." She was licking his collar bone, dipping her tongue in the valley and then running out to his shoulder. Her hands had moved to unbutton his shirt completely and pushing his shirt off his shoulders giving her easier access to his skin. "The doctor said I'm ok for all physical activity, you know that." She continued to move her hands up and down his biceps for a moment, before allowing them to travel down his body toward his pants, following the peaks and valleys of his abs. "Make me yours again AJ. I need to feel like I belong. Please. Make love to me, here, now. I need you to make me feel beautiful again. Make me think of this moment, not wish to know what it felt like before."

A growl erupted from his chest and he pulled her lips back to his, letting her feel everything that he felt for her, desire, love, lust, passion, he wanted her to know that he was going to mark her as his. Their clothing quickly slipped away, and he laid her down on the compacted wet sand that was at their feet. With the warm water gently caressing their bodies as it rolled onto shore, AJ ravished her body, using his hands, and mouth, not leaving an inch of her untouched. Her moans of pleasure spurred him on, while remaining ever so gentle. Their eyes locked on one another and neither was willing to be the first to lose that connection. She ran her hands through his hair as they rocked, and finally it wasn't enough, her body decided it needed more. AJ noticed the change and her back arching up into him encouraging him with each pass, she dug her nails into his shoulders and pulled his mouth to hers. It seemed as if their bodies were touching everywhere. She was moments from going over the edge and as the crest began she ripped her mouth from his and screamed in ecstasy, she pulled him over the edge with her, causing him to roar her name and they both crumpled into a puddle of sweaty bodies, gasping for breath.

When he regained his breath he kissed her forehead, never pulling from her body and looked into her eyes again and said, "I love you. I will forever, I want you to marry me. Will you marry me?"

She was still struggling to regain her breath but gave him a quizzical look. They were already married why would he need to ask again? She ran her hands up his back feeling the play of his muscles under her palms, not wanting to break the connection.

He saw the confusion in her eyes and quickly answered her unspoken question, "I want you to remember marrying me. I want to give you the wedding that you should have had in the first place. Not just a rushed visit to the Justice of the Peace where we have no evidence. I want to give you anything and everything. Please let me give you a beautiful wedding." He pleaded with her.

"I don't need anything fancy AJ. Expensive things aren't important to me, I only want to be happy, and with you, I'm happy. But if you want to, and it would make you happy to do this, then yes, I will marry you again." She replied.

At her response his blood was pumping again and he wanted her again. He hardened inside her instantly and they began again, over and over again. He had a huge desire to mark her again as his, crashing his lips to hers, she wrapped her legs around his legs and met him with everything she had, it was feral, it was hard, but to both of them it felt right. As they each exploded, they saw stars behind their eyelids and moaned into the others mouth.

They moved up to the house, and spent the rest of the night making love in their bed, the shower, and on the balcony. It seemed that their favorite place of the night was under the stars that shone brightly for all the world to see, not a cloud was in the sky and though the temperature grew colder as the night progressed their body heat, and the movement of their bodies never let them feel it.

XXXXX

AJ insisted that they marry on the property with just a few close friends. Stephanie wanted it simple, but AJ made sure that the grounds were covered in more flowers than she ever thought possible. It was beautiful and as she walked down the path to AJ in her Greek goddess style wedding dress, with her hair billowing out behind her, her crown of flowers stayed perched on her head.

Everything was perfect, her doctor was in attendance, their housekeeper and a few of the men that worked with them that they had grown close to over the past few months. He had promised to keep it simple, but if he could have, he would have shouted it from the roof tops that she was marrying him. He felt lighter than he had ever felt in his life, he had earned the love of the woman that meant everything to him, and they would be together for as long as she would have him.

As they said their wedding vows to one another they smiled and held hands not wanting to lose any contact with each other. When they were pronounced man and wife, he took her in his arms and kissed her with everything that he had in him, and she knew it. Everything had been perfect and she didn't think that she could have been happier. Even the low, uneasy hum of her body, couldn't convince her that this was something that she should question. Signing the marriage license she never noticed the name listed for her, and signed her name strictly out of habit as S.M. Plum.

**Alright, now I know that you all probably hate me right now, but I promise this will all work out in the end. She has a feeling something is off, but will not acknowledge it. Please be patient, that's why I am posting more this week than I have in the past. There will be three updates this week instead of my normal one. Let me know what you think, good or bad. I love to hear what you think. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it. So here is the normal update for this week. There will be another on Friday. **

**Warning: Tissues may be needed towards the end. **

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 10

XXXXXX

After three months, Helen had decided to give up all hope and have a memorial service for her daughter. There was a severe division in the family at this announcement, but nothing was going to stop Helen. It seemed that the talk about Stephanie was dwindling since there was nothing new and Helen had decided that everyone needed to grieve the loss. The argument between Helen and Frank was almost on the same scale as the fight between Stephanie and Dickies divorce.

"She is not dead. We will not be having a memorial service." Frank yelled.

"It's time that we move on. She's gone Frank. It's time to grieve and then move on with our lives." Helen said.

"This is our daughter you're talking about." Frank yelled. "You want to give up on her, like you always have. You never supported her in anything that she did, so you are willing to give up all hope that she will come back so you can go back to your normal little life. You're a cold hearted woman Helen." He finished coolly.

"I don't deserve to be talked to that way Frank. She was a difficult child, and yes she embarrassed me a lot, but if I didn't believe that she were dead I wouldn't be doing this. I have a right to grieve." Helen said sadly.

"You want attention, it's not grief. The only thing I've heard come from you in the past three months that I have been searching for my daughter is 'why me' 'Why does my daughter have to get kidnapped.' It's not about you, it's about Stephanie." Frank yelled.

"And she's not here is she? No, the selfish child never put her families needs before her own and look where it got her." Helen spat.

"You're blaming her for this? You think this is something that she wanted?" Frank asked loudly. "Wow, if I didn't know any better I'd bet that you thought everything that went wrong in your life was Stephanie's fault." He looked deep into his wifes' eyes and saw that what he spoke was the truth, she did blame everything on Stephanie. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down before he said anything, "No wonder she hated coming here, I had no idea that you hated her. I know that you were jealous of her free spiritedness, but I had no idea you were that heartless, that you would hate and despise your own daughter."

Frank walked up the stairs with Helen following him, "I'm leaving. I won't be back anytime soon. You'll be getting divorce papers soon, I suggest that you sign them." He threw some clothes and his toiletries in a suitcase and went down the stairs.

"Frank you can't be serious. You need to be at the memorial service. What will the neighbors think?" Helen shrieked.

He turned to look at the woman he thought he knew and told her, "I don't give a fuck what the neighbors think." He turned around and walked out to his car and was out of the driveway within seconds.

The memorial service took place just as planned, without Rangeman in attendance, without her father and grandmother, and without anyone who truly considered themselves a friend of Stephanie Plum. None of them were ready to give up on her just yet. The only ones in attendance were the gossip mongers of the burg', Helen Plum and Joe Morelli. Even the majority of the TPD refused to attend. Joe sat holding Helens hand as the priest spoke and gave her a shoulder to cry on, however the tears were oddly missing.

Frank had made several trips around the country based on some random information that they had received on possible sightings of Stephanie. Each time one came in, the hopes of the men within the building on Haywood would rise, only to fall again once it was proved to be a false lead. Frank was now living on the fourth floor of the building, and taking a more active role in the business and getting into contact with many of the men that he had under his command in years past. Young and old, they all understood exactly how he felt about this missing daughter and they all vowed to do anything they could to help with her safe return home.

On his latest trip to DC he came across a young man who he had known since he entered boot camp. He hadn't changed much, maybe matured a bit, but the young man had always reminded him of Stephanie. It took him a while to adjust to the strict discipline of the military, but once he was able to control his energy and spirit he was a fine soldier, actually one of the best.

The man walked toward him with a smile on his face and shook his hand, "General Plum, how are you sir?" the young man asked.

A small smile came to his face, "Physically fine, but things could be a lot better Sergant. How about you?"

"Good sir, I just finished my contract. I finally decided that it's time to get out and find something less dangerous to do with my life." he smiled.

"Good for you son." Frank clapped him on the shoulder.

"Sir, is there anything that I can help you with? Excuse me for saying so, but you don't seem to be yourself." The young man asked.

With a deep sigh Frank admitted, "My daughter is missing, has been for nearly four months. Just let me know if you hear anything."

"Will do sir, but I'm heading out of the country, do you have any idea where she may be?" He asked.

Frank shook his head no, "She was taken from the hospital while she was unconscious. She'd been in an explosion and was placed in a medically induced coma until the swelling on her brain had dissipated, but was taken before she woke up, we have absolutely nothing to go on."

The young man frowned, that was definitely not good news. He knew that whoever had taken her in this case was professional, it just wasn't clear if this was to harm or to hold as leverage. He pitied the man, the General had spoken openly about his daughter on several occassions and he and his brothers in arms had hoped to one day meet her. He could only hope she was alright. "You'll find her sir." They shook hands and parted ways going about their scheduled day as if nothing had happened. The young man to his apartment and finish packing so he could head to his new job and life abroad, and the General to check with old collegues and see if they had anything new for him.

XXXXXX

The burg was in an uproar today, all claiming that Joe Morelli was scum of the earth. News that should have made Ranger ecstatic in any other situation, made him raging mad today. Under normal circumstances he would have been jumping around like an idiot, knowing that Morelli had skipped town with his latest girlfriend to Vegas to get married because she was pregnant should have been good news. It wasn't Stephanie, his babe, that Morelli had knocked up, he should have been elated. However, given the fact that four months after Stephanie had disappeared the man had already gotten another woman pregnant and was marrying her only enraged him.

Ranger destroyed his apartment after hearing the news. Not because he was upset that Morelli was getting married to any woman that was not Stephanie, but because he was so angry that Morelli had just given up on her. It had only taken Joe a month to move on to someone new. He had dated a few women since she had disappeared, but this one had gotten pregnant, so he was marrying her. He was supposed to love Stephanie. How could you claim to love someone and give up on them? A month, a fucking month, and he had moved on, four months and he was getting married.

As he raged in his apartment he threw anything that wasn't nailed down. The art work that was over the mantle had been sent sailing through the air, the glass vases that had once adorned the entertainment center were now just shards of glass on the floor. There were several gaping holes in the walls that he had put his hand through. The dining room table was nothing but shredded shards of wood. Not a glass or plate in the kitchen were left intact, the bed in his room was thrown from the box spring and the bed tables were smashed beyond recognition, the couch and chairs were ripped and overturned. The only things that remained untouched in his apartment were an 8x10 picture of himself and Stephanie leaning into each other, her hands splayed across his chest, his arms around her waist, and a look of pure love in their eyes, and the cage on the kitchen counter that housed Rex, who was now cowering in his can.

Ranger slid down the wall of his living room and let the tears flow down his face. Energy spent on the destruction of his apartment now gone. The front door of his apartment opened slowly, and Ranger waited to see who it was that dared enter.

Ella made her way to his side after scanning the room, and slid down the wall to sit beside him. "Talk to me." was all she said.

He took a few deep breaths before he opened his mouth to speak. "How could he have claimed to love her and then move on, only a month later, when we haven't even found her? He just gave up on her." He paused. "How could he do that to someone that he claimed he wanted to spend the rest of his life with?"

"There are all types of love Carlos. The question should be, did he ever love her the right way for her? Through the years I have watched Stephanie and Joe go back and forth, heard the arguments, and was also an ear to listen when Stephanie needed it. She told me many things that probably not many know. Joe may have loved her, but he was also killing her little by little with his version of love. He may have just realized this himself and the only way to put it behind him was to move on. He may not have given up on her, but just on his relationship with her. Sometimes taking a good long hard look at one's self in the mirror can be an experience that we don't like. It's possible that Joe got that look, maybe because someone pointed out to him what his actions did to her." There was a long pause before she spoke again.

"Have you given up on her?" Ella asked. "Will you ever stop looking for her?"

He looked at her in shock, "Never. I could never give up on her." He said sternly.

"And why is that? Why will you continue to look for her when we have found nothing?" Ella asked him. She wanted him to speak out loud what she knew he felt, he needed to acknowledge what he was feeling. In the four months that she had been gone, he had completely shut down. This was the first truly emotional outburst she had seen from him outside the time on the mats with the men.

"She's my life! She's my everything! I'm empty without her. I would go to the ends of the earth for her. Give her anything that she could ever want." He paused taking another deep breath. "I love her." He head fell to his knees and his body shook as he cried.

"Then why were you willing to leave her before she woke up? You say that you're miserable without her, but this is exactly what would have happened if you had left." Ella explained.

He shook his head no. "I would have given up anything to know that she was safe, even if it meant my own happiness. She deserves better than to be in constant danger. The pain that I would have felt would have been my own doing and I would have accepted that. This, she was taken from all of us, we don't know where she is or how she is. At least I would have known where she was and that she was safe, known that she was happy." He tried to explain.

"But do you understand how wrong you are? That girl would do anything for you, just like you would for her. Do you not think that she would have given her life for yours? Just because you would have left to keep her safe, doesn't mean that she would have been. Look at the danger that she gets into on her own Carlos. She attracts crazies, she would have been better off with you, rather than without you. You would have taken her choices away from her, and you would have ruined your friendship with her." She said sadly.

"I know that you love her, anyone can see it, but everyone can also see that she loves you as well. She would never have been happy without you. You both would have been miserable, and she would have blamed you. Now you need to think about what you are going to do once you find her. Are you going to be the macho man who makes all the decisions and walk away like the coward that everyone claims that you were, or are you going to fight to keep the woman that you love? You need to think long and hard Carlos, because if you intend on staying and try to be with her you will not find it easy. Those men downstairs have every intention of protecting her from you. Their loyalty shifted the moment they learned what you intended to do. Now you have to earn back their respect." Ella said to him.

He just nodded his head in agreement. "When you show that you have her best interests at heart, and that you want to support her in every way, not just what you think she should do, but every way they will begin to accept you again." After a pause she said, "I'm here for you Carlos, I understand what you were trying to do, that doesn't mean I support it, but I can understand where you were coming from, but think long and hard about your next actions, or you may never get another chance with Stephanie or your men." She explained.

She stood up and dusted her pants off, "Go get a shower and I will call Luis up here to help clean this up." Ranger stood and she cupped his face with her hands, "Everything will work out Carlos, you just need to have faith. We will find her." With that she shooed Ranger off to the bathroom and got to work.

Only the core team and Frank knew about what had happened in Ranger's apartment. They all felt for him, but they were still mad as hell at him. They would never again let Ranger run roughshod over Stephanie, they would do everything they could to protect her, and that meant not just physically, but emotionally as well. They just needed to find her in order to protect her.

**So we have a talk with Ranger and we can see where he is coming from. There will be more talking, but this should be then end of emotional Ranger, at least for the time being. We will be seeing a lot more of him, but he will be evolving, so don't hate me too much for this version. It's just where the story led me. Let me know what you thought, I'd love to hear from you. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

**Behind Blue Eyes Chp 11**

In the two months since they had been married, four months since Stephanie had disappeared, and AJ had brought Stephanie into the business completely. She had taken like a duck to water, the clients loved her, and their employees would do anything for her. He had never seen someone so quickly accepted among his employees. For a long time AJ had wanted to find someone that would balance out the strict rules of each business and offer a softer side to his clients, and Stephanie fit the bill perfectly. She was business savvy, and knew how to work a client, even with the memory loss. His security company was growing at a speed that he had never expected and she was able to cut costs for his construction company as well. He knew that it could be dangerous to bring her into the security company, but being as they were in Greece and none of their contacts were American, he was pretty confident that they were safe. Besides, she was in an office building most days, and only made contact with the individual clients, who had already been screened.

Stephanie was blossoming in ways that she had never attempted in her previous life, not that she remembered that, but every once in a while there were flashes of her formed life, mostly unhappy ones, but she pushed those aside and felt that her happiness and success were more important now. She felt like she had somewhere that she belonged, with AJ.

The headaches had completely stopped, but her eyes were still sensitive to light, so she felt that she could venture out of the building more, so long as she wore her sunglasses. She loved to shop, and would take treks down to the open air market once a week and just enjoy the ambiance. AJ usually joined her on those visits, but if he couldn't she always had someone with her. AJ had asked her if she would allow someone to accompany her when she left, at first she hesitated, but when he explained it would make him worry less if he knew she weren't alone, she caved. Besides whatever she bought her partner of the day would carry for her, so she never had to worry about the size of anything she purchased.

Upon the return of one of her shopping trips AJ surprised her with a romantic dinner on the balcony of their bedroom. He was dressed in black silk sleep pants and a bare chest. When she approached him, he kissed her softly as he removed each article of clothing that she wore and then laid her down on the bed to kiss up her body stopping at all the most important parts and making her moan in pleasure. He had been trying to convince her to have a baby for the last few weeks and he knew that she was almost there ready to tell him yes, he wanted to push her over that edge to agree and he knew that he could persuade her with his body.

He had been trying to quell the fears that she had over being a mother, fears that he had hoped that would be gone due to the memory loss, but as she explained it to him, she had this irrational fear that she wouldn't be able to give a child as much love and care as they would need. She was the most loving and caring person that he had ever met, and she was slowly beginning to accept the fact that she would be not only a good, but a wonderful mother. She knew that she wouldn't be alone raising a child and that was what he had been repeatedly saying to her, over and over again.

They had never used anything as far as protection, so it was possible that she could already be pregnant and didn't know it, but he knew that she had been on birth control back in Trenton, and he wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to want to take her next shot which was due a few weeks ago. He loved the feel of her wrapped around him, no barrier between them, and he would be more than happy to have a small piece of both of them to raise together. He wanted that more than anything in this moment.

She pushed his silk pants down his legs and wrapped her hand around his length and stroked, only causing the fire within him to grow, he nipped at her neck and trailed down to her left breast, taking it in his mouth and laving his tongue over it, she moaned at his assault and stroked him harder. "AJ" she cried, "please, now." His fingers teased her clit as he switched to the other breast. Her pants grew louder as he continued to work her body over. In the short period they had been together, and the numerous times they had made love, he knew exactly what she liked and he was going to use it to his advantage. "God AJ, I need you NOW." She screamed.

He smiled, knowing he couldn't push her much further, "Will you make a baby with me?" He heard her suck in a breath and returned his mouth to her left breast pulling a loud moan from her. She nearly screamed in frustration as he continued to work her to the edge.

He pulled back a bit and told her, "I want to see a little version of you running around here love; I want to see you large with my child." She loved the sound of that, but couldn't get her mouth to work to tell him as he returned to her breast again and thrusting three fingers into her, causing her to gasp; she felt her orgasm right there and then he stopped, again.

"Please love; let me give you a baby." He said softly.

Her body was coming down, but she wanted him now, she grabbed him by the neck and pulled him to her mouth, wrapped her legs around him and flipped them over so she was on top, she positioned herself over him and just before she sank down on him, she said looking in his eyes with a smile, "Yes." Then thrusting downward and taking him inside her in one movement he nearly came on the spot. She rocked her body on him and his hands helped to drive her up and down over his erection at a pace that had them both on the edge immediately. It didn't take long for them to go over together screaming the others name.

"God I love you." He said as they laid out on the bed. They spent the night feeding each other fruit and chocolate between making love, but now with a renewed effort, to create life.

XXXXXX

Her time with AJ had been like a dream to her. From the time that she had agreed to try and have a baby they had been going at it none stop. She smiled to herself as she remembered some of their more public displays, remembering a few times when their housekeeper or a few of the men that lived on the property had walked in on them. A blush crept across her face, but there was no embarrassment there, only a passion and yearning to repeat the act. She couldn't remember if she had enjoyed being watched by others before, but she had to admit that there was definitely something to it, the passion between the two of them when they risked it was off the charts. For some reason she just couldn't get enough of AJ. They had just found out the day before that they were officially expecting and the smiles couldn't be wiped off their faces no matter how hard they tried.

When they were alone they decided to keep the information about the baby to themselves until they had made it through the first trimester just in case, but they couldn't wait to share their news. It turned out that they were already seven weeks pregnant, so waiting a month to tell everyone wouldn't be that bad. She wanted to share the joy they were feeling with everyone.

Sitting in her office she looked over her schedule and made sure to cross off two months, around when the baby was due. She planned to still work, and AJ supported her decision, but she wanted to make sure that she was there for the first two months to bond with her child, and then he or she would be coming to work with her.

AJ had been bringing on new employees to train so that when the time came he would be able to cut back a little on the work load. He had brought in some of the men that he had served with in the service for the security company, and then had brought in more office workers for the construction company. The other businesses were all self-contained and they only went there to check up every so often.

As a gift and celebration of their wonderful news, AJ was taking his beautiful bride to Paris for the weekend. She wanted to see the sights and go to the top of the Eiffel tower, to see the Louvre and walk the Champs Elisees with him. AJ wanted to feed her croissants and fresh cheeses and listen to her moan over her food as well as take her shopping and spoil her. She didn't let him do that very often and he knew that this would be the perfect opportunity for it.

After returning from their wonderful weekend in Paris, time seemed to fly for them. AJ seemed to be busier than normal, and spent more time away from her than he wanted, but he knew that he needed to in order to be around after the baby was born. A two week trip was scheduled, and due to their work schedules she was unable to go with him, but they talked every night before they went to bed. The men that lived on the grounds with them watched out for her for AJ and some took it upon themselves to keep her company until she went to bed so she wouldn't feel lonely.

The only problems that they started to encounter were dreams that she had started having the night they found out she was pregnant. At first she couldn't remember what they were, but she always woke feeling scared, hurt and alone. AJ would hold her in his arms and comfort her, sometimes making love to her to show her that she was never alone, and that she was loved. It confused her to no end that she couldn't remember what they were, but then one night she remembered something, skin the color of a mocha latte, the feel of his hands on her body, but she never saw his face, and she always felt alone and hurt once he walked away in her dream.

The first time she tried to explain the dreams to AJ, he stiffened and didn't say anything at first, but then just told her that it was just a dream, rubbed her back and told her how much he loved her. The next morning he would get up without a word and head in to work. This happened several times in the first few weeks when the morning sickness had been particularly bad that day. She knew that she had upset him, dreaming of another man, it wasn't something that she wanted to do, but once she accepted it, and realized that these were probably memories, they seemed to fade and became less frequent. She loved her husband and would do anything to keep from hurting him. The dreams were unnerving, but since they were from her past, based on how she felt emotionally when she woke up, she knew she wouldn't want to go through that again, not after knowing the happiness she now had with AJ.

The end of the first trimester came and they made the announcement that they were expecting a baby and everyone was happy for them. There was a lunch held in a conference room at the security company with all of their employees, the newest employees having to remain in the field to cover any needs of their clients first, but would be relieved after the more senior staff had their meals and time to congratulate their bosses.

This company had turned into a family and everyone was looking forward to welcoming a baby into the mix.

"Michelle, what are you hoping to have?" one of their senior staff asked.

She smiled, "I'll be happy either way as long as our baby is healthy. Boy or girl doesn't matter to me." She said as she rubbed her slight baby bump. To look at her you would never know she was pregnant, but that would soon change. The doctor had said that she had not gained a pound yet, but was happy to see that her eating habits and exercise would help her to maintain a healthy weight.

"Are you going to keep working here afterwards? We'd miss you if you didn't." asked another voice.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." She laughed. "As long as everything goes as planned I'll take two months off and then the baby will come to work with me."

"Need any babysitters and we're there. We may never have kids of our own, but we'll protect this little one with everything that we have." Cameron said, he was sitting right next to her.

Her eyes filled with tears, "Thanks. You have no idea what your support means to me. I love all of you."

Cheers and congratulations again went around the room and Stephanie and AJ excused themselves and went back to work.

Walking out of the building and placing their sunglasses on to shade their eyes, they literally ran into one of the new employees on his way in, "Sorry about that Justin, I want you to meet my wife Michelle. Michelle, Justin is going to be moving onto the grounds next week. He just got out of the Army and started working here just a bit ago."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. You'll love it. I hope you like to go to the beach. It's very private and peaceful there. Welcome." He shook her hand and smiled. He knew there was something familiar about this woman, but wasn't sure exactly what it was, since he had never met her before. Looking her over, he noticed that she had long straight brown hair with blonde highlights, a light complexion, and flawless skin. She was thin and stood about 5'10 in her high, high heels that made her legs look a mile long. She was gorgeous and he understood why all of the men here drooled over just the thought of her. They had told him that she had the most amazing eyes they had ever seen on a woman, but he wasn't able to see them due to her sunglasses. He hoped one day soon he would be able to see them.

"Thank you. I do, it's one of my favorite things to do. The beach always has a calming effect on me." Justin replied.

"Then I will probably be seeing a lot of you. I go down there quite often." She smiled. "I guess we'll see you around." AJ waved to him and walked his wife to their car, placing a loving kiss on her lips before closing the door and making his way around to the drivers' side.

Justin walked into the building thinking he couldn't wait to get to know her better. He had no romantic notions about her, she was the bosses' wife, but he looked forward to getting to know more about her personally. No one had said much about her, other than she had married the boss and they had never seen him happier.

**OK, so what do you think? The dreams will come more into play next week. I know you probably don't like the idea of Stephanie having a child with someone else, but there is a reason for it, so trust me, Please! I will be back to post again Wednesday and Friday next week. This weekend is crazy so I won't be able to do anything for Monday. Thanks to all who reviewed, I love to hear what you think, even if you're not happy with it. Have a great weekend. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 12

XXXXXX

In her fourth month of pregnancy AJ had to go out of town again for a short trip and Stephanie had decided to spend some time at the beach and bask in the sun instead of staying and just sitting around the house. Her blood pressure had been a little elevated at their four month check up so the doctor had told her to take it easy and take a few days off and they would keep a close eye on her for fear that she may be developing hypertension. Anything that she could do to keep her stress level to a minimum would be good, but the baby was completely healthy and appeared to be unaffected.

With AJ out of town, her dreams were back with renewed frequency, and increased intensity and she found her heart racing when she woke up startled each time. She didn't want to say anything to AJ about it because she didn't want to hurt him. He didn't understand and she knew she couldn't blame him for that, but she needed someone to talk to about them. The dreams were almost the exact same as before, but there was a major difference, she heard a soft but sad male voice, and it always said, 'I will always love you, please forgive me.' As the figure left her behind, that was when she jolted awake each night.

The same thing had happened last night and she needed to get out of the house, for the first time in her memory it felt claustrophobic, so she took her beach bag and walked down the cliff to the beach. With sunglasses in place she lay down on her towel after covering herself in suntan lotion and fell into a sound sleep for the first time since AJ left, lulled by the sounds of the water lapping at the beach. She was once again woken up with a start, but this time by the gentle shake of her shoulder by Justin.

"Sorry to scare you, but I didn't want you to burn. You've been out for more than an hour." He smiled at her and paused before speaking again, taking in the tired look on her face. Even without being able to see her eyes he knew that she wasn't sleeping well for some reason and hoped everything was alright. "Is everything alright? Even in your sleep you seem stressed." Justin commented. "Not that it's any of my business, but if you ever need someone to talk to I'd be more than happy to lend you an ear." He quickly followed up with.

She smiled at him and immediately he felt at ease, but something struck him as familiar, again, he just didn't know why. "It's fine, and you're right, I have been stressed. I think it'll get better once AJ gets back. I just have to take it easy for a few days. My blood pressure was elevated at my appointment, but everything else is fine. Thanks."

He looked down at the woman next to him and just couldn't figure out where he knew her from. He had been trying to figure it out since he met her two weeks ago, but had not had any luck so far. They had gotten to know each other in their time spent on the beach and for some reason he couldn't explain, he was becoming fiercely protective of her. They got along as though they had known each other forever and she never asked about his past. People always wanted to know about where he had come from because of his accent, but Michelle was different. She never talked about her past either, maybe there were some bad memories there for her, and he wasn't going to be the one to bring them up, he planned to respect her past, as much as she respected his by leaving it be.

Once AJ had returned from his trip he noticed how close Justin had gotten to his wife. At first he had been jealous of the man spending time with her while he was away, but he quickly understood that there was nothing to worry about, but he had confronted Justin about it just days after he got back.

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with my wife Justin." AJ said flatly.

"She's easy to talk to AJ. I have no romantic feelings towards her, if that is what you're concerned with. I feel like she's a sister to me and I would protect her with my own life if I had to without a second thought." Justin explained hoping that his boss understood. He had a connection with Michelle, and feared losing that if his boss felt threatened. Michelle was the first one that had accepted him for who he was faults, secrets and all. She understood him better than his own family, and they had only met the month before.

AJ knew exactly what Justin was saying. She had a way of making people fall for her, whether it be romantic love or not, she was an easy person to love. And he believed every word Justin spoke.

"She seems to trust you more than others, and can speak freely with you. I have been thinking of giving her an assigned bodyguard for the duration of the pregnancy, would you consider that? I need it to bee someone she would enjoy spending time with and won't make her feel caged." AJ asked.

"I would as long as she was ok with having a guard AJ. I know how independent she is, and can only imagine how difficult she would be to guard if she didn't agree. Not that I wouldn't do it anyway if you asked, but I want to make sure that she's ok with it as well." Justin offered, showing just how well he had gotten to know her.

"I was going to speak with her about it tonight." AJ smiled. "It would make me feel a lot better knowing that she was with someone she felt completely comfortable with outside of work and home if I'm not available. I worry even more now with the baby coming, and the issues with her blood pressure." AJ explained.

"I understand. As long as she will agree, then I'm more than happy to be her full time guard." Justin and AJ shook hands and went about the rest of their day.

XXXXXX

AJ had taken Michelle back to the doctors' office halfway thru her forth month to have her blood pressure rechecked and to make sure everything was going smoothly. The doctor had told them that the baby was healthy and that he wanted to do an ultrasound while they were there just to be sure. Her blood pressure was closer to normal than it had been the last time it was checked, but it was still higher than he would like, so she needed to continue to take it easy, and limit stress as much as possible. He suggested not working for the time being.

They were excited to see their baby on the screen, and although they were both concerned about her blood pressure, they were also elated to learn that they were having a boy. So far everything looked perfect and they saw that he had ten fingers and ten toes just like he was supposed to. As they rode home they had discussed names for their son, both agreeing that he wouldn't be a Jr.

That night they wanted to go out and celebrate, as they made their way to the restaurant AJ had made reservations at, they ran into Justin. He had been coming to the house to check on her and make sure everything went well with the doctor. When Justin caught sight of the woman he knew as Michelle, something clicked. For the first time, he saw her beautiful azure eyes the guys had been talking about and he knew why she seemed so familiar to him before. This was the General's missing daughter.

Trying not to make his discovery known, he pasted on a hopefully believable smile and asked, "Well, don't you both look nice this evening. I'm guessing your appointment went well today? That's why I was coming over. I wanted to make sure everything was ok." Justin explained.

Michelle stepped forward and kissed his cheek, oblivious to the tension in his body, "Everything is more than ok. We found out today that we're having a boy." She beamed at him.

"Wow, congrats, that's wonderful." He said shaking AJ's hand smiling and enveloping Michelle in a big hug. "Going out to dinner to celebrate?"

"Yeah," Michelle said stepping back into AJ's arms and smiling up to him. "AJ thought a nice dinner out just the two of us would be nice, and I completely agree with him." AJ seemed to be in his own world with his wife in his arms.

"Come on love, or we'll be late. Have a good night Justin, we'll see you tomorrow." AJ called back to him.

Justin watched them drive off and once the car was out of sight he walked back to his apartment. How could he have missed it? She was so much like him. But everyone thought that she had been kidnapped, did she run away? Was she here to get away from her family? It couldn't be against her will, she glowed with happiness from the moment that he met her. He didn't understand what exactly was going on, but he knew that he needed to get some information together before he called to tell anyone what he had found. She was happy, having a baby, and her health had been in jeopardy both before and currently due to the pregnancy, he couldn't mess that up for her. He needed facts before he could do anything, and he'd be damned if he lost the friendship of a woman that had accepted him no questions asked, for anyone. He was going to protect her from whoever she needed to be protected from. Even if that meant her own father, a man that he had respected for several years.

XXXXXX

A few days later Justin found Michelle at the beach just looking out at the sea. They had agreed to meet at the house to go out for the day, and he had worried that she had taken off without him until he saw that her car had not left the garage. The next place he checked was the beach, where he found her sitting on the beach, legs stretched out in front of her, resting back on her elbows looking lost in thought.

"Michelle?" He asked, trying to get her attention without scaring her. "I thought we were meeting at the house. Is everything ok?"

She smiled up at him, "Yeah, I just needed to come down here and feel the calm. I had that dream again last night. I wish it would go away." She signed and sat up straight and changed the subject. "We decided on a name for the baby." She smiled.

"And?" He smiled at her as he sat down on the soft sand next to her.

"Jacob Austin Hamilton. We'll call him Jake for short." she beamed.

Smiling at her in return, "That's a great name. He's a lucky kid to have you for a mother." He said.

"AJ says the same thing. I used to have this irrational fear that I would be a terrible mother. I never understood where it came from, but after hearing stories of my mother, I guess it's not so irrational." She grimaced. "I hope I'm nothing like what I've heard and had a few flashes of, or at least what I think is her." There was a furrow at her brow now.

Justin looked at her, "What exactly do you mean by, 'that you've heard'?"

She laughed at his confusion. "That's right. Sometimes I forget that we haven't known each other that long because of how easy it is to talk to you, I feel like I've known you forever." She signed. "I was in an explosion about nine months ago, close to ten now, and suffered memory loss. I was a complete blank slate when I woke up and have never recovered any real memories, just snippets here and there. AJ filled me in on my past relationships and my mother. After hearing what he had to say, and having a few minor flashes while he spoke of her voice, I told him I didn't want to hear any more. I didn't want to remember anyone that would treat me with such cruelty. If I remembered everything on my own, then fine, but I didn't need to hear it second hand, it would have been bad enough to live it once, I didn't need to live it again, right?" She smiled a sad smile at him.

"There are times when I have this hollow feeling inside me when I think of my past, but then I look at AJ and I see how happy he is, and how happy he makes me, that here and now is just fine by me. He treats me like a princess. Money doesn't mean anything to me really, I just want to be loved, and AJ does that for me, and so do all the guys around here. But I have to say that since you came into my life, I have felt closer to my past than I did before." She paused looking out into the water. "I know the dreams are not really dreams, but a reality I once lived. I just wish they would go away. The feelings that I wake up with, the hurt, anger, pain and loneliness that I know I felt before makes me so thankful for what I have here."

Rubbing her expanding belly she looks down, "It makes me want to protect this little one from the world. I never want him to feel that way. I want him to know that he will always be loved by his mother and father, that he was made out of love, and that it will never be okay for someone to make him feel the way I felt, the way that I feel when I wake up from those dreams, or flashes of my past."

Justin looked into her eyes and saw the tears and folded her into his arms. He was going to watch over her, but he knew there were people at home that loved her and missed her. Now, he would have to figure out what to do. He kissed her hair and said, "You take care of that babe of yours and I'll watch over you." He pledged.

Just a second after he said that, a searing pain shot through her head, causing a screech to be torn from her throat, as a voice echoed through her head, 'I don't do relationships', and tears ran down her face. Not knowing what had happened, Justin pulled her closer and rocked her in place.

She grabbed her head and moaned as the pain passed and she tried to calm her breathing down. Justin rubbed her back and waited for her to calm down and tell him what happened, but when she didn't speak he couldn't wait any longer.

"Is it the baby?" She shook her head no.

"My head, God I haven't had a pain like that in a while. I don't know what triggered it, but in the past when AJ would tell me things my mother would say, it would cause tremendous pain in my head, so eventually we stopped talking about her. The pains seemed to go away slowly after that." She explained.

Now Justin understood why she didn't talk about her past. "We're all the memories that you had bad ones? Or did you have any good ones too?" He asked.

"No they weren't all bad, but I never see faces, and it's usually just little snippets of a conversation. The weirdest one I remember was someone telling me 'you don't know how to have fun, you don't like guns'. I know there must have been more too it, but I don't remember any more, and for some reason it made me smile, but it's an odd comment to smile about, don't you think. I work with my gun just fine, and I have no issues with it. Even when I first held the gun after losing my memory I didn't have a dislike of my gun. It doesn't make any sense to me." She explained to him rubbing her temples.

"Hey you want to go take a nap? I know that you said you wanted to go out today, but maybe you should just rest." Justin offered.

"Yeah, I think I will. Thanks. Maybe we can go out tomorrow instead." She said as they made their way back up to the house.

"Sure thing, I'll check on you later." Justin said as he walked her to the door. She nodded and kissed his cheek and then walked inside.

Justin spent the next few hours finding out as much information he could about the woman he now knew without a doubt was Stephanie Plum. The General's daughter, the one that he had been looking for the last time that he saw him in DC as he was about to leave for this new job.

It was purely by coincidence that he stumbled onto Stephanie, but he was going to do what was best for her, even if that meant making sure her family stayed away from her.

From what he remembered the General telling him about her, her personality had not changed any, she was still fiercely independent, accepted everyone as they were and was loved by all. But he also remembered hearing how she was the opposite of what her mother had wanted in a daughter. AJ had probably been completely honest about her mother and what she had said to Stephanie all her life. Justin understood what it was like for one of your parents not to support anything you do and belittle you your entire life. His father had done the same to him, since he was the youngest son. His father had his namesake, and he was just an extra mouth to feed. Yes he had his mothers love, but he never had his dads.

XXXXXX

Justin had waited a week before he made his decision about what he was going to do, and he knew that was not going to go over very well with the man that he was about to call, but hopefully he would understand when he explained things to him.

Opening his personal phone and dialing a number that was listed on the card the General had given him the last time they had seen each other, it started ringing and he took a few deep breaths and then heard the phone being answered, a gruff "Plum" was spoken.

"General, it's Justin Martin. I have some information for you sir." Justin paused, waiting for a reply.

"Go ahead." He heard the tension in the older mans voice.

"I found Stephanie sir, alive and well." Before he could continue he was cut off.

"Where, when and how?" The General was barking into the phone and he could hear papers being shuffled in the background.

"Sir, I've been with her for the past two months, but didn't know who she was until a short time ago." Justin tried to explain, but was cut off again.

"And you waited to tell me? Where are you Justin? I'm coming to get her." The General commanded. He could hear the anger in the mans' voice, but he needed to get control of this conversation, and now.

"Sir, I need to explain a few things to you before you come here. Please hear me out before you do anything. She is safe, I promise you that." Justin took a deep breath ready to explain everything that had happened.

**Moohaha. Yes I am mean and ending it there for today. So, let me know what you think of this update. I look forward to hearing from you all. Thank you for sticking with me, I know that quite a few people were upset with me for the pregnancy, but it's where the story went, and there really is a good reason for it. Please Read and Review. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. All mistakes are mine.**

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 12

Sitting in the conference room at Rangeman looking over all the information that they had gathered was only getting him further and further frustrated. She had been gone for almost ten months and they still had no idea of where she was, if she was ok. No one wanted to give up on her, but it was starting to become less and less likely that they would ever find her.

Life had changed too much since she had been gone. Life didn't seem to have the pleasure it once did for anyone that was once close to Stephanie. It wasn't just at Rangeman either, the TPD was less lively. There were no bets taking place, no jokes when the men brought in the skips, no smiles on any of the men that once used to tease her about the garbage that she rolled in. No one really knew exactly how much she had affected their lives until she was gone.

The Rangemen even noticed that Morelli was more likely to stay in his office than head out with the guys for a drink. He may be married with a baby on the way, but it was obvious to everyone that this was not what he had wanted.

Frank was staring off into space when his phone rang on the table. Looking at if for the first ring before he moved he wished he could finally have some news about his daughter. He needed some hope, he was so close to losing that last glimmer that he had.

"Plum" he answered in a gruff voice.

"General, it's Justin Martin. I have some information for you sir." Frank heard from the other end.

"Go ahead." He could hear the tension in his own voice.

"I found Stephanie sir, alive and well." Frank straightened in his chair.

"Where, when and how?" He barking into the phone and he began to shuffle the papers looking for a blank sheet to write on.

"Sir, I've been with her for the past two months, but didn't know who she was until a short time ago." Franks' breath caught in his throat and the anger in him began to rise.

"And you waited to tell me? Where are you Justin? I'm coming to get her." Frank demanded. Franks reaction caused some of the Rangemen to enter the room with curious and hopeful looks.

"Sir, I need to explain a few things to you before you come here. Please hear me out before you do anything. She is safe, I promise you that." Justin took a deep breath ready to explain everything that had happened.

Frank placed the call on speaker phone and set in on the conference room table. The room was filling with more and more men to the point there was standing room only. Frank gripped the table with both hands as he growled out. "Justin, tell me now!"

"Sir, I met her about two months ago. She lives in the main house on the property that I stay on that is owned by my employer. She has been unharmed and is living happily here, but there are some things that you need to understand, sir." Justin voice rang over the phone and he paused again.

"Damn it. Tell me where she is so I can come and get her, and bring her home where she belongs." There were growls heard around the room.

"Sir, she doesn't remember her former life." There was a pause on the phone and dead silence in the room. "From what I can gather, from the little pieces of her memory that she has regained she has no desire to remember. Any of it."

The room was radiating anger. "What do you mean she doesn't remember anything? How could she not want to remember?" a voice from the room asked.

"There was brain damage from the accident that has been healing over time, but it affected her entire memory. She has glimpses, or flashes every once in a while, but for the most part they are bad memories. There are a few here and there that seem to make her smile or confuse her, but she did tell me that one that confuses her is someone saying, 'you don't like guns'. She couldn't recognize the voice or understand the context, since she is completely comfortable with her gun now and has been from the minute one was placed in her hand." came the reply.

Frank hung his head between his arms, resting his chin on his chest. "I'm assuming that you have spoken with her regularly?" his voice was flat.

"Yes sir, almost every day since I moved here to the property." The voice spoke with much compassion. "I didn't know who she was until about two weeks ago."

"And you waited this long to inform me of this Justin." Frank accused the man on the other end of the phone.

"I wanted to have more information before I called you. She never spoke of her past sir, and I didn't know why. Before I actually knew who she was, I had no intention of asking her about it. It wasn't my place sir. She has become like a sister to me." There was the sound of a deep breath. "From the picture that you showed me, her appearance has changed a little, but not much. The thing that caused me to realize who she truly is was her eyes. I had never seen her eyes before that day two weeks ago sir. She always wore sunglasses, due to light sensitivity, and headaches. Her hair is straight with highlights in it now sir. I'm sorry. I would have called sooner if I had known."

"You said she's healthy." A statement from another voice in the room.

There was a pause; "For the most part, yes." came the reply.

"What does that mean Justin? Is she suffering from something other than the memory loss?" Frank asked emotion clearly in his voice.

"She has bad headaches at times when these memory flashes occur, sir. She describes them as stabbing pains that cause her blood pressure to spike to dangerous levels at times. She said that the ones she has been suffering from had not occurred in quiet some time since the accident, and recently started back up two weeks ago. She has been sleeping quite a bit because of them, but that only causes her to have unsettling dreams, so her sleep is not restful." Justin answered and stopped.

"What changed two weeks ago to cause these headaches and memory flashes?" A voice asked. "Has she been mistreated?"

"No, not at all, but when my boss left for a period of time for a business trip, that's when they started, on a regular basis. Since he has come back they seem to have lessened." Justin explained quickly.

"Is she being drugged so that her memory doesn't come back?" asked an angry voice from the room.

"No, no medications have been given to her that she has not agreed to take. That I know for a fact." Justin explained.

"You're leaving something else out. I can tell. I want to know what you are hiding." Frank asked. The men in the room were tense waiting for him to speak again. They had a lead on where she was now. They would be able to bring Stephanie back, but they needed to know if they needed to make any medical arrangements to get her the help she needed. They would all do anything they could for her. "Her agreement to take medications doesn't make me feel better Justin. She could be unaware that they could cause these memory lapses. Do you know what she is taking? I want to know right now."

"Yes sir. I do." He paused. "She is on a multi vitamin and that is it sir."

"Justin." Frank roared.

"Sir there is something that she will need to explain to you herself. I can't tell you, sir, out of respect for her. I'm sorry sir."

Tank took over for Frank since he seemed to be close to losing his control. At least they had some news on their missing family member, confirming what they had long waited to hear, that she was ok, that was more than they had had in the entire time she was missing. "Justin, who is your boss and where are you? We need to get things together so we can head out as soon as possible."

"We are in Athens, Greece." He paused for a minute. "My boss is Aaron Jacob Hamilton." There were several growls heard in the room and the crashing of some furniture out in the hallway. Tank looked up and saw a very angry Ranger standing on the other side of the table. He moved his gaze to Bobby who also wore a similar mask of anger, then to Lester who was seething.

"Justin, what is your position within Hamilton's business?" Tank said through gritted teeth.

"I was assigned to guard Michelle, or rather Stephanie, a month and a half after I took the job and began working with AJ. She works in the security business here, and has for about the last seven months or so since she has been here." He paused before he continued. "All the guys here love her sir; none of them would harm a hair on her head or cause her any pain if they could prevent it. From what I hear she has done wonders for the company and the clients love her. I've seen it first hand, she has them eating out of the palm of her hand. I don't know if she could before, but she is fluent in both Italian and Greek now sir."

Franks head popped up, "She knew some Italian before, but no Greek that I know of." He had a genuine smile on his face for the first time. "And it doesn't surprise me in the least that everyone loves her. It's almost impossible not to love her."

"Sir, we need to be gentle with how you arrive here. You can't upset her. I know that may be impossible, but we need to try to ease her into this as gently as possible. You'll never forgive yourself if you harm her in her current condition. AJ would never harm her in any way sir. He loves her with everything that's in him, regardless of what you may think of him." Justin explained.

The room erupted in anger and it took Frank and Tank to calm them all. No one was happy with what they were hearing, but soon they were able to calm down enough to gather the rest of the information Justin was able to give them at that moment. They would all be in touch with him throughout the night to finalize plans, but for now they needed to get busy.

Ranger asked to have a word with Frank before they completed their planning session and head for the plane. The room had been cleared, all but the two men going to get their things ready for immediate departure. Everyone had a plan to attend to and help to bring their heart back to Trenton.

Ranger turned to Frank as soon as he heard the click of the door behind the last person out of the room. With his shoulders back, his head held high, he spoke with all of the authority in him, "General, I plan to be there and bring her home no matter what you have to say. I will be the one to take out AJ, since this was his plan to make me pay for ending his career. I will be there to bring Steph back. She's my life sir."

Frank looked at the man before him and studied him. This was the man he knew Ranger to always be. He had seen the changes he had gone through while his daughter had been missing, and this was the first time any of them had had any hope. Ranger had a determination emanating from him that he had only seen before when he went on one of his missions. This was the man he knew his daughter had fallen in love with.

"And what exactly do you see your part as in this mission soldier?" Frank asked.

"I will be the one to take down AJ sir, and then I plan to bring your daughter here to Haywood. I've wasted enough time being without her. Some of it self imposed and the other having the choice taken away from me. I will do anything for her that she asks sir. I just want to let her know that I love her with everything that I am. To let her know that I never gave up on her and I never will." Ranger stated clearly and without hesitation.

"And if she's different than she was before, will you accept her no matter what she is like after everything? Or will you turn tail and run from her like you planned to do before?" Frank asked. He knew what the answer was, but he still needed to hear it.

"You daughter has always accepted everything about me sir, I will do no different for her. Nothing could ever change the way that I feel about her." Ranger paused and looked at the floor for a minute. "These last months, without her, have been the worst of my life sir. I need her in my life. I know that I was afraid to admit that before, even though everyone could see it, but I was more afraid that she would get hurt." Ranger looked Frank in the eye. "Look where that got me. She still got hurt, and then was taken from all of us. I won't waste any more time than I already have. I'll be whatever she allows me to be in her life. I'll support her in whatever way she feels she can accept me. Hopefully that will be as a husband, eventually, but I will take whatever I can get sir."

Frank looked at the man before him, bearing his soul, and couldn't feel more proud of him. They had had discussions over the time she had been gone, about how he had made mistakes, he had made strides to be accepted once again by his men, and won their respect, but in all honesty, all of his men, and Frank himself, would be watching Ranger very carefully around Stephanie in the future. No one was willing to let something similar happen in the future, they were all willing to make sure that Ranger would pay if he hurt her again.

Frank finally nodded his head in acceptance at Ranger's words. "It was a hard lesson for all of us to learn. We took for granted all the times that she was able to make it through each disaster, not saying things that needed to be said. If you mean every word you have said, and I believe that you do, then I accept it. We have all learned a very hard lesson, but sad to say it was a necessary lesson. Let's never make that mistake again."

The two men shook hands and allowed the room to fill again with all of the Rangemen. At the announcement of what was to take place there were a few complaints, or comments about Ranger's involvement, but all were answered quickly and concisely. They were able to work out a plan that they would all agree to, but many were upset with not being included. Once things had settled down, and the final details were ironed out, they were able to get on a plane and head out to her location. With the promise that those going would keep those that were left behind informed, they were all ready to bring their Bombshell home. It was already late in the evening and the plane was waiting on the landing strip that they were using.

Loading the plane, Frank, Tank, Lester, Bobby, Cal, Zero, Ram and Ranger were all vibrating with nervous energy. Frank knew that Justin was telling him the truth, that he had only known it was Stephanie for a short time, but he was sure going to make him pay for waiting that long to tell him. He knew that something was not being said, but he wanted to get to his daughter right away, so he let it go. He knew that some things couldn't be explained and needed to be seen, and with all honesty, he wouldn't be able to relax until he saw his daughter and held her in his arms for the first time in over ten months.

Tank, Ranger, Bobby and Lester were all angry that they had not been able to tell that this was payback by Hamilton. It was not his usual MO, but with Stephanie, everything changed. They knew from Justin that Hamilton was in love with her, none of them had known him to be in love before, but again, this was Stephanie, she made it so easy to love her and she accepted everyone as they were. There were so many questions running through their minds. Did she know what he had done to her? Was he giving her something that she didn't know about? They would get the answers to these and more questions, but in the end AJ would be eliminated. He had to pay for everything that he had put them through.

Cal, Zero and Ram were informed who Hamilton was and they were angry that this was revenge against their friends and co-workers, but what angered them the most was this was a former comrade. Someone from the ranks of the military that their friends had belonged and had turned against them, that didn't sit well with any of them. Stephanie was just a tool, and this man would pay for everything that he had done to her and her family.

The flight felt like it went on forever. When they landed they were all on the move and still things felt like they were moving in slow motion. Checking into a hotel not far from the villa grounds that Justin had said Stephanie would be at, they sat down to go over their plan once again before it was put into motion just a few hours from that moment.

XXXXXX

Sitting in his apartment Justin knew tomorrow was going to be a bad day for her. He wanted to make sure that he was there for her no matter what happened. He had given the General and the others the access codes to get in the gate and then gave them the description of how just to get where they would need to go in order to find AJ in the house; he also made some modifications to the security system.

His job was to make sure that Stephanie was out of harms way while they confronted him. Hopefully she would be feeling well enough to be out all day, but then again maybe it would be a good thing for them to include her in this. He only hoped that she would forgive him for what he was doing. He had agonized about it for quite some time since he found out that this was who the General was looking for, but his real loyalty was to her. Stephanie had become his true family, she understood him like no one else had before and he just prayed that she would understand.

His phone rang and he knew it was her, "Hey how was your day with AJ?" he asked her.

She laughed. "I don't even rate a hello anymore huh? Well it was a lot of fun just to spend time with him relaxing for a change. I was checking to see if we were still on for shopping tomorrow? I haven't been to the open air market in a few weeks and since I'm feeling better I thought we could do that."

"That sounds great. I'll pick you up around nine is that alright?" He said trying to sound upbeat, but not quite pulling it off.

"Is everything alright? You don't sound like yourself." He knew she would pick up on that.

"Everything's fine. I just missed you today, but I'm glad you got to spend some alone time with AJ. What did you do?" he asked.

"We had a picnic on the beach actually. The baby has been moving around a lot and we just spent most of the time walking along the beach and feeling him move. AJ was so excited that he got to finally feel him move this week. I don't think I've ever seen him happier." You could hear that happiness in her voice.

"Glad to hear it." His heart sank thinking of what was to come.

"Hey, I better get ready for bed. I'll see you in the morning. Maybe we can get some pastries while we're up tomorrow. I haven't had any in a while." She said with a hopeful tone.

"We'll see how you feel tomorrow. Sleep good sis." he said.

"Night Justin." She replied and then hung up the phone.

Hanging up the phone Justin decided to go for a walk on the property. He could hear the waves and smell the scent of the salt water. Walking to the cliffs he silently prayed that everything would work out for her, but also thinking, 'God what have I done? Please tell me it's the right thing.'

After a time he walked past the main house and heard her giggling through the open French door on their balcony. Looking up he thinks to himself, 'Enjoy tonight AJ, because it will be your last with her and your child. There is no way the General will allow you to get away with this.'

**Alright, so there you have it. Now the interesting stuff happens. More to come on next week on Wednesday and Friday. Let me know what you think about this update. I'd love to hear from you. Thank you to everyone who has already been reviewing, it means a lot to me. **

**Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. All mistakes are mine.**

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 13

The morning came all too soon for her. She woke to kisses on her shoulder, then up to her neck and earlobe, and his hands moving down her side, over her belly and down between her legs. It was the best way to wake her up that she could think of. Their bodies moved in a rhythm that was all so familiar to only them and when they went over the edge together there wasn't a care in the world to them other than how they could love one another. Holding each other for a while afterward no words were spoken, none were needed, they knew how the other felt and they just enjoyed the silence for a while.

Before AJ went to get up he tilted her head up to look at him and placed a soft kiss on her lips, "I love you." She could only smile and return the sentiment before he was up and getting ready for the day.

As she lay in bed a strong sense of foreboding washed over her, making her feel as though she shouldn't get out of bed at all. She didn't understand the feeling, or where it came from, but she knew that somehow things would be different after today. When AJ came out of the bathroom he looked at her and asked, "Are you alright? You still feel like going out today?" He had a worried expression on his face and came to sit next to her on the bed stroking her cheek.

"I'm fine." She said smiling up at him. "I just have this strange feeling, but I can't explain it. Physically I feel fine, but other than that I have no way to explain how I feel." She paused a minute thinking and looking straight in his eyes. She touched his cheek in with her fingers, in a gentle caress, and said, "Yeah, I'm okay to go out. I've been looking forward to getting out to the market. Justin is picking me up at nine to go. I've been wondering if something was going on with his family, he hasn't been himself for the last few days. I'm worried about him." She paused, thinking again. "Maybe I can get him to talk to me today while we're out." She smiled at her husband and pressed her face into his hand, turning her face to kiss the palm of his hand.

"I love how you care so much for your friends. You are going to be such a wonderful mother to our son." He placed a kiss to her lips once more and receiving a smile in return. "I have to get some things taken care of before lunch. I hope you won't be gone too long today."

She smiled at him, "No, not that long. I'm hoping to convince Justin to get me some pastries. I haven't had any in a while, and I really just want to walk around in the market. If something catches my attention then fine, but I really don't have anything specific in mind."

AJ looked at her, "You know that the doctor doesn't want you to have too many sweets, especially with your blood pressure problems. I know you've been feeling better, but please, for me, try to be good about your eating. I can't stand the though of something happening to either of you. There isn't that much more time left before he's born. I need you healthy love, and so does he."

Looking deep into his eyes she knew he was speaking the truth. She could only nod; the knot in her throat was too large to speak. She ran her hand down his chest and then nodded more firmly at his request again. Smiling at her, but without another word, AJ was out of the room and Stephanie got up to get dressed, her heart full of love for both her husband and their unborn son, yet a sense of dread forming in the pit of her stomach.

Finally dressed and ready to get her day officially started, Stephanie made her way downstairs. The windows were open and she could smell the salty air waft through the room. Justin walked through the door and as soon as he saw her, she smiled at him, walking up to him she asked, "Are you alright? I know that something was bothering you when we talked last night. And I know that it's been more than just last night." She looked him in the eye, but wasn't able to see exactly what he was thinking like she normally could.

Justin smiled at her and said, "I'll be fine. Thanks for worrying about me." He held her in his arms with his chin on her head. She hugged him back and then pulled back.

"Let's get something to eat." Rubbing her belly she said, "This little guy is hungry." She smiled at him and turned to walk into the kitchen with Justin following close behind.

A short while later Stephanie and Justin were walking in the open air market. They chatted as they looked around. Stephanie hugged a few of the vendors that she was familiar with and kept moving along their way. She was relaxed in her surroundings, enjoying the sun on her face and the people around her. She loved be around people and she moved slowly through the crowd. With Justin at her side she knew that she was safe and just took in the warmth of the sun and the fresh air.

As she was looking at a fruit and vegetable cart, out of no where a man stepped up close to her and spoke, "Stephanie?" She didn't respond to the name and kept on looking at the different items at the stand, but was then caught off guard by hearing the name that had made her smile numerous times in her memories and turned in his direction. "Beautiful?"

She knew the voice was familiar and when she looked up into the face of someone she was sure she had met before, but couldn't understand why at first. A wave of memories flashed through her head of this man, then joking around, laughing, sitting in cars together on the street, and having lunch. A smile crossed her face as she realized who this was. "Lester?" came out of her mouth before she knew what she was saying, and the biggest smile she could remember, crossed the mans face and made her heart skip to a very happy beat.

XXXXXX

Lester stood and watched her as she moved through the market. He was glad to see that she looked healthy. He noticed something different about her, but he didn't have a full view of her from where he stood watching. She looked happy and comfortable in her surroundings; she looked at ease with this man at her side. He just hoped that she would feel the same when he approached her.

It was hard to watch her from a distance, after all this time. Her smile was the same; she still spoke with her hands and laughed easily. He wanted to run to her and envelope her in his arms and never let go, but he knew that was something he couldn't do, one because he knew she was never in love with him, and two it would ruin their plan by confusing her and possibly scaring her.

Moving into her path about an hour into watching her, he couldn't wait anymore. He needed to touch her, to make himself believe that she really was there and it truly was her. From the moment he heard that Stephanie was alive his heart soared. Here, with her so close that feeling only grew, but he would need to keep a leash on his emotions. He wasn't sure if she would remember him at all, and he needed to reassure her that he would never hurt her. He had to take his time and be careful of her health. They knew that something was causing her health problems, but they still didn't understand what that was, and he needed to find out now.

Stepping in front of her he spoke her name quietly, "Stephanie?" trying to gauge if she would respond to her own name, but getting nothing. He tried again, but with his nickname, "Beautiful?" That got a reaction from her. She looked directly into his eyes and a look of confusion crossed her face. It only took a matter of moments, although he felt like it could have been hours, for her to smile at him and say, "Lester?"

He smiled down to her and nodded, "Yeah." He carefully hugged her, and felt like a wave of calm and rightness wash over him. He had to take a deep breath to keep the tears from falling, closed his eyes and savored the feel of her in his arms.

At first when he stepped up and hugged her she wasn't sure what to do, but once she felt his arms go around her she knew she would be safe. She gently placed her arms around his back and leaned her head on his chest, watching more scenes that played in her mind as he held her. She was confused about some, but at the same time, she knew they were actual memories, some good, some bad, some scary. She knew this man, she was absolutely certain of that.

When he finally stepped back from her, but keeping his hands on her arms. "How have you been Beautiful? We've missed you so much?" He didn't want to give away too much, he wanted to see just how much she knew, if anything at all. Justin had not given them much information other than she was healthy, happy and unharmed.

He looked into her eyes and could see happiness. "I'm great actually. Today is a good day." she replied. Finally breaking eye contact with him, his eyes were drawn to where her hand was gently rubbing circles on her rounded belly. "This little guy is very active, but I'm starting to get used to the feeling." She smiled brightly and his head snapped back up to look at her face.

Lester's breath caught in his throat. She was pregnant. 'Oh god, this is bad. So very bad.' he thought. As soon as he could get his brain working with his mouth he asked, "How far along are you?" glad that he was able to keep a smile on his face and speak in a normal voice.

She smiled at him, "Four and a half months almost five. It's amazing really, I was so afraid to be a mother before, but I'm excited about everything that will be happening to us as a family in the future."

"That's great Beautiful. I'm glad you're happy." Lester swallowed past the lump in his throat. He knew that her plans were going to change and there was really nothing he could do but be there to help her get through it. He looked at Justin and they made eye contact, each silently vowing to the other to be there for her.

They talked for a bit more, moving to a café to sit down, her telling him what she had been up to and Lester just taking it all in. From everything that she had told him, it sounded like AJ had been really good to her, may even actually love her, but it still didn't mean that he would be getting away with what he had done. He wanted so badly to tell her what had happened, the missing pieces of the story, what they had all been through, but every time he had started to, Justin shot him a warning glance. He was right she didn't need to be stressed at the moment. Soon enough her entire world would be coming down around her and they needed to give the guys plenty of time to get AJ out of there before they went back.

It wasn't until she started to complain of a headache that she said they needed to head back home. She kept looking around the room, and saying that she had this really strange feeling that something was going on, and she couldn't explain it, but she wanted to get back to the house. That damn 'spidey sense' of hers Lester thought. They had planned for this possibility, but still it was still too early for them to go back.

A moment later, another man stepped into the café and approached them. Bobby. She looked at him and had flashes of this man, always putting band aids on her, cleaning blood off of her, or stitching her up in some way. It confused her, but she knew that sometime soon she would have to ask for more information.

She looked right at him and smiled. "I know you, don't I?" She asked.

He nodded with a large smile. "Yes, you do Bomber." At the nickname a wave of memories flashed through her mind, of different people, different situations, at fires, at the hospital, all the men in black, all heavily armed, some with smiles, some serious or blank faces. The emotions that swept through her had her heart racing and an increase in the pain in her head.

She looked at him again, tilting her head to the side without saying a word, but then after a moment said, "Bobby, right?"

"Very good. I'm glad you remember me. I've missed you a lot Bomber. We all have." Bobby replied. He saw her wince in her seat and was immediately at her side. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head. "Not hurt that I'm bleeding, but my headache is starting to get worse. I think I need to head home." She paused for a moment and rubbed her temples. "Would you like to come back with us? I'd love to have you come for dinner. How long are you in town for?" She asked them.

They all looked at each other. Lester finally answered, "We're not exactly sure, but we'd love to come for dinner. You're not cooking right?" They all laughed at that one.

"No, our housekeeper will." She laughed as she got up, swaying slightly in place.

"Take it easy Bomber." Bobby said, catching her elbow to steady her. Justin was at her side immediately.

She nodded. "Sometimes I get dizzy, but the doctor said it was normal and I should take it easy, which I have been. Today was our first outing in a while, but it still felt good to get out, and I'm glad I got to see both of you. I know AJ will be happy to see some of my old friends." She smiled at them and they all made their way out the door and back to the house.

A short time later all four were walking in the front door, much too quickly for the men's liking, she had insisted on going in the house to find AJ right away and make arrangements to make sure there would be enough food for all of us this evening. Pushing right past them and walking towards the living room.

The guys tried to make as much noise as possible to warn the others that they were back early. This was where they knew that they would have some trouble. They would not able to communicate with one another once they met up with Stephanie. The guys at the house needed silence to get in and Lester, Bobby and Justin needed to focus on her, in case seeing her old friends had caused any adverse reactions to her health. The worst part of this was that Stephanie took off once she was through the door filled with excitement to see AJ, the headache forgotten for the moment, and tell him that she had remembered some of her past since running into some old friends and she had brought them back to have dinner.

She pushed open the double doors to the living room, 'unusual' she thought as she walked through them, 'they were never closed'. Coming to a dead stop about five feet into the room she took in her surroundings and said 'What's going on here?

**Dun, dun, dun. Yes and here is a cliffie for Friday. Sorry about that, but it seemed like a good place to cut it off. Next update we will see things from the Guys situation. And we will find out exactly what AJ did, and why he's out for revenge. So, I hope that you liked this update. Please let me know. I will have a pole included in Fridays update and I can't wait to hear what you think should happen. The first scenario that was voted on is coming up soon. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend**.


	16. Chapter 16

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 14

No one had been completely satisfied with the plan that they had come up with. They all sat staring at each other knowing that there were still too many variables to be completely confident that everything would go down without a hitch, especially when it came to Stephanie. Any amount of planning went right out the window when she was involved. It was never that she planned on things going to hell in a hand basket, but strange things had a tendency to happen around her, and it was one of the things that they had all missed since she had been missing.

Before long they were all in motion, Lester and Bobby were going to cross her path in the market with Justin. Once they made contact with her the rest of the team would move into the house and take down AJ. Justin had given them enough information on how to get past the system that it wouldn't be a problem, and he had promised that he would make it so that the cameras were on a loop and the monitors would show empty rooms and no alerts would be sent out. As long as the rest did their part, there would be no interference from anyone who guarded AJ and Stephanie.

They all waited with baited breath to hear her voice for the first time in nearly ten months. They all heard her say "Lester?" and they all wanted to send up a cheer that it was truly her. They would all know that voice anywhere, no matter how long they had all been apart. Communication was cut with Lester and Bobby and until their portion was done, they would hear nothing more of that conversation. They had sent Bobby in case she had any medical needs or problems if she did gain some memories, and to keep her calm. Justin had explained that she smiled at hearing the name 'Beautiful', and when asked why, she couldn't explain it, so that made the decision of who would meet her first very simple. They all wanted to be the one to see her first, but they needed to put her health and safety before their own needs.

The rest of the team moved quickly and within a matter of minutes they were inside the house. They moved around looking for AJ and were easily able to find him in the living room on the phone, looking out the back window. They heard the tail end of his conversation and as soon as he was done and closed his phone Frank stepped out and drew his gun. "So you're the man that has been keeping my daughter all this time." He said flatly. "A very big mistake on your part Mr. Hamilton."

AJ froze in his spot not knowing what to think. He knew that no security system was impenetrable, but his was the very best out there. He knew that General Plum and his men were good, but this smelled of a rat. AJ slowly turned to face the man he knew only by reputation, and was his father-in-law. "Ah, what I have done is wrong in your eyes General Plum, but I assure you that in mine, I have no regrets of my time with Stephanie. My only regret at this time in my life is that you have found us."

All of the Rangemen stepped out from their locations and were all holding guns on AJ, while he stood there unarmed. He looked around the room and smiled, a few of the men in this room knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't give up easily, and he was spoiling for a good fight. If they planned on taking him down, he wasn't going down easily, and if he had his way he would make it out of here, and with Stephanie, even if it meant killing everyone in this room.

Ranger shook his head at AJ, "There's no way out for you. The odds are against you AJ. The only way out is you in a body bag. You'll pay for what you did. You took something that was very important to all of us, and we intend on getting her back and making you pay."

AJ sneered at Ranger and lunged at him, completely ignoring the gun pointes at him. Both men went down and the gun was knocked out of both of their reach. The other men stood watching as the two went at it in front of them, each taking out their anger and fear out on the other. No one was willing to get in the middle of these two very alpha males. They were both beautiful to watch, punches were thrown and many landed, but neither one seemed to get the upper hand. The Frank and Rangemen stood, still guns pointed at AJ, knowing that they couldn't fire and not miss Ranger very easily. It was a while before they grew tired of watching and began looking for ways to break them apart. Anger or not, this was not going to solve anything at the moment

Frank Plum yelled in his commanding voice, "Enough." Both men stopped what they were doing almost immediately. They had been circling each other looking for a chance to take the other down again.

Both were breathing fairly normal, but AJ took a deep breath and hissed, "You know nothing of what should be important to people. You have a history as bad as mine, probably worse the way I hear it, but you are touted as a hero. You are nothing other than a soldier; you know nothing of life or its importance."

"I know that it's wrong to take people who have been injured away from their home, away from their loved ones for your own pleasure, your revenge on me, on our team." Ranger argued. "You took her to make me suffer, but did you once think of what she was missing back home? Who else was missing her?" Ranger wanted to scream, but kept his voice level with a lot of effort, as the anger rolled off of him. He knew he was the reason, but did so many other people have to suffer as well?

Frank spoke up looking the man directly in the face, "You took my daughter, and I'll make sure that you pay for what you've done. You knew exactly who she was and what it would cause when you took her. Now you will get to suffer just like you've made others do."

"Ah, General Plum, it's nice to finally meet you." AJ said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yes, I took her from a place where she was under appreciated and ill protected. She has been much happier with me here, than she had ever been back in Trenton. We spend many nights on the beach just looking out at the sea. She absolutely loves it here." AJ couldn't help but gloat at the time he had spent with Stephanie while they had been searching for her with no success.

"How would you know how she was treated? You killed a man to get to her. You took her from the people that loved her, and have told her nothing of her home." Frank angrily sneered.

"See, now there you are mistaken." AJ smiled. "I know almost everything there is to know about her. I know how your wife spoke to her and treated her. I know how YOU ignored the comments and never defended her. You sat back and let it all happen, like she didn't matter to you. I've told her of her mother and other things from her past, and she asked me not to tell her any more. She didn't want to hear about all of the people that treated her so badly. So, don't tell me that I took her from the people that loved her when all they did was berate and belittle her. Here she is loved for who she is and what she does. No one asks her to be something she isn't, and no one expects her to just take what someone else has dished out. She can defend herself with her words as well as physically." Frank growled in response while still holding his gun pointed at AJ's chest.

AJ turned back to Ranger, "Like you've never taken someone from their home for your own purpose? You seem to forget the many missions that we were to kidnap targets and bring them back to our commanders. The innocent people who you used to get what we needed. You act as though you have never done anything wrong." AJ looked directly at him with a cold hard stare, "You've hurt the one person that everyone knew you were in love with the most out of anyone else. And you were planning to do it all over again. I simply made it easier on you by taking your choice away from you."

"You know nothing of what I feel for her. You're a cold hearted bastard that was willing to give up his own team to save his own life. You know nothing of love, or what it's like to care for someone like Stephanie." Ranger said in a deathly cold tone.

AJ roared, "I. Never. Betrayed. My. Team. You were the one to listen to someone else's lies about me and ruined my career. I would never have done the things to men that I had always believed to be my family, that had my back, but the minute you heard otherwise you left me to rot. You took the word of an informant, a woman that was a traitor against her own people, over mine."

"Then how did she find out the information that she had that proved to me you had betrayed us? No one knew that information but our own team. You can deny it all you want, but you were to blame for the deaths of seven of our team members on that mission, and everyone knows it." Ranger informed him calmly.

"Did you ever stop to think that they could have given me something to make me talk? Did you ever even give me chance to explain myself? No, you just went with the information that you had, finished the job, and left me in the hands of someone who you knew would kill me." AJ was seething now. "I guess it was your way of getting me out of the way and paving a better career path for yourself. I knew you got a few metals for the completed mission, as well as a promotion for turning in someone who had supposedly turned against our own country. Too bad when I showed up I was able to convince enough people that I was innocent that it spared my life, after being tortured and barely escaping that, but my career was already in ruins."

"No, you confused business with pleasure old friend, a very big mistake in our line of work. You told her things that you should have never shared with anyone outside the team. What you lost was nothing in comparison to the men that lost their lives on that mission, all because of you. A court marshal is nothing in comparison to the families that lost their sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers. You put yourself first AJ, and I know that it wasn't the first time. It was just the first time that we had had any proof." Ranger stated angrily.

"That could have been fabricated, but then I'm sure you were too excited to check out the details. You saw an easy way to get me out of the way and you took it. And now I get to pay you back for everything that you did to me. It seems only fair, don't you think?" He paused before he continued with a smile on his face, "How does it feel not to know where the one you loved was? How did it feel not being in control of your surroundings? How did you like being tortured, knowing that there was nothing that you could do to fix it? The thoughts of what could be happening to her where ever she was? The possibility of never seeing her again?" AJ continued. "A woman as wonderful as Stephanie deserved to be treated like a princess and cherished. All of you may have tried to protect her physically, but emotionally left her flapping in the breeze." AJ looked back to Frank. "Ranger here, confused and used your daughter General, used her for his own purposes and then was ready to leave her when things became too 'real' for him. You, you watched your wife tear her apart every time she would visit your home and said nothing. Do you think she deserved that?"

Frank interrupted him, "I may not have been the perfect father, but I would never force her to stay away from anyone that she loved."

"I have forced her to do nothing General. She loves it here. She has become the woman that she should have always been, and would have been if she had had any support growing up, a confident, self reliant, vivacious woman, and all without any of you. She won't allow others to talk to her the way that she was back in Trenton, and if anyone tries, she rips them apart while politely handing them their hat on the way out the door. The woman that left Trenton, deep down is still the same, only now she is a better version, one that you and your wife should have helped to build, not tear down." AJ began to turn toward Ranger and stopped, turning back to Frank, "And by the way, I may have killed for her, but not to get to her. If you remember, the man caused the explosion that put her in the hospital. No one else was permanently harmed. He," pointing to Ranger, "can't say the same thing. Can he?"

"No matter how you justify what you did to yourself, you have to know that there is no way on this earth that you will see tomorrow." Frank commented.

AJ looked at the man in front of him, his father in law, although the men standing around him were not aware of that fact, or at least that's how it seemed. He could see the fierceness in his eyes, he could see how protective he was of what he considered his, and his regret of his past actions, but that was not going to stop AJ from protecting what was his. His wife and son were too important to him to just give up. "You are willing to kill a man that gave your daughter happiness and a better sense of self than anyone has ever offered her in her life?" AJ shook his head in frustration. "You allowed her to get involved with men who cheated on her, knowing full well what was going on and never telling her a thing. You allowed your wife, and others, to talk badly about her both to her face and behind her back, and said nothing. I rescued her from the hell you call a home and protect her from all of those that have hurt her and I'm the one that needs to pay? You are so ready to condemn me to hell, to make yourselves feel better, but you haven't taken in to consideration what she wants." He pause glaring at the men around him. "You may want to wait until you have all of the vital information needed before you make your move, because once it's made there is no turning back, and I can assure you that you would lose her forever if you don't."

The room was silent for a moment while everyone stood staring at the man that they had once known as their brother, the man who had taken so much from them, and they wanted to make him pay. Fingers were twitching to pull the trigger, guns pointed at AJ's head, all waiting for some kind of sign.

They were all brought out of their zones by a voice that none had heard in over ten months, "What's going on here?". AJ's eyes went straight to meet his wifes' as she stood in the doorway taking in the scene before her.

**Alright, so what did you think? Please let me know. I know that I left you with another cliffhanger, but next week we will find out what happens. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed I love all of your comments. **

**Today I have a new poll for you to participate in. For those that do I will give you another sneak peek of an upcoming chapter from next week. You will find them in your inbox no later that Monday evening. Votes must be received by Sunday night. I look forward to this challenge. **

**Norvil, the man who throws anything messy at Stephanie will be making an appearance in an upcoming chapter. Some one will get covered in something. Who should it be that gets covered? And if you have any suggestions about what substance please feel free to let me know. **

**A) Ranger**

**B) Tank **

**C) Bobby**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 15

Everyone stood still in the room; no one dared move an inch, with the exception of putting their weapons to their sides. No one was sure what her reaction was going to be when they heard her voice. All the men silently cursed themselves for not noticing her entering the room, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. None of them spoke to her, just let her absorb the situation in the room and see where her mind was going to go.

Stephanie barely hesitated in her steps as she made her way to her husband. Lester tried to grab her arm, but she was to fast for him. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She recognized her father standing directly in front of her husband, and flash after flash of her past went thru her mind of him. As she neared him, he reached out to her.

Frank tried to grab her to keep her from AJ, "Pumpkin you need to stay away from him. He's dangerous." She recoiled from her father and moved quickly to AJ, her heart thumping in an erratic pattern. Her head was throbbing and she felt that she could drop at any moment.

As she reached AJ she wrapped her arms around his waist and he enveloped her in his arms, placing a kiss on her forehead. She placed her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, while still more memories flooded her. Flying off the roof, a daddy daughter dance at school, working on a car together in the garage, then there were the times he left her alone, her mother arguing with her and her father sitting in his chair, the overwhelming sense of depression that washed over her was almost too much and her legs began to buckle. AJ quickly pulled her tightly against him to hold her up and comfort her.

"Justin, get her a glass of water quick." AJ ordered, he didn't dare move to the couch and place themselves closer to the other men in the room. It only took a moment for Justin to hand over the glass and for Stephanie to drink it down. "Easy love, you'll be fine, just calm down." He whispered in her ear. "You need to calm down love."

She looked up at him with questioning eyes, but then turned to her father slightly, but never pulling away from AJ. "Daddy, what are you doing here? And why would AJ be dangerous to me? My husband would never hurt me." She replied.

There were several growls from the room and every one of the men that had originally been in there had a firm, tight lip expressions, their eyes were several different shades of colors, but what was behind them all was the same emotion, murderous rage.

"This man has hurt you more than you know Pumpkin. He's not your husband." Frank said looking directly at AJ. "He's lied to you the entire time he's had you here."

Stephanie just looked at her father, with a blank stare and replied, "I think I know who my husband is, and unless the priest that married us was fake both times, then we are most definitely married. But you still haven't answered my question as to why you're here." Her body was still turned into AJ's and neither one of them was making any attempt to move anywhere. They were surrounded by men that vaguely looked familiar to her, but she had not taken a good look at any of them outside of her father.

"If that's the case then we can get that taken care of since you were never going by your real name, but you need to come over here to me so that we can take you home and make sure that everything is ok. You need to step away from AJ Pumpkin. There are things that you don't know about him and what he has done that you need to know." Frank said in a soft, calming tone.

"Why would I want to leave my home, and the man that I love? He has loved me and taken care of me from the moment that we left Trenton. No one has ever done for me what he did, not even my own father." She looked at the man that she knew was her father, but then again had he ever really been there for her, as a child yes, but as an adult, not that any of her memories had told her. "I'm glad that you came to visit, but you have no right to barge in here and try to take me away from my home, my husband and my family. Maybe you should just go back to Trenton and forget that you came here. I really don't appreciate you showing up like this here." She had turned slightly around to where her pregnant stomach had become visible for all that could see her face. Both AJ and Stephanie had placed a hand on her belly.

The angry noises, curses and growls from the men around her caused her to look around, a bit scared at what she was hearing, as the volume and the tone of the room had changed dramatically. Lester and Justin had stepped up to both AJ and Stephanie to help her feel safe, after seeing her body tense further at the noise, she knew that neither of them would let anything happen to her. As she looked around her she felt that she was familiar with all of them, but didn't quite know how at the moment. She knew she had never seen them here on their property before, and she felt really uncomfortable being surrounded by them all holding weapons in their hands. Her gaze had almost made it all the way around the men when her eyes landed on one man in particular.

A very large black man stood straight, gun at his side, a blank look on his face and their eyes met. She could see the care and concern that he has had for her. He could see some kind of recognition in her eyes, but wasn't sure what to say so he kept quiet.

Stephanie looked at him and realized that she knew this man. She didn't know why, but she remembered him, "I know you, don't I?" She asked, only receiving a nod in return. She thought for a minute longer still holding eye contact with him. "Your name is Tank, isn't it?"

He smiled for the first time since they arrived, a small one but a smile just the same. "Yes, Little Girl, that's me. We've really missed you."

She looked down at the gun in his hand, and as soon as he saw where her eyes had gone he holstered his weapon. Once it was put away she pulled back from AJ, and he reluctantly let her go, and she moved closer to Tank to give him a hug. She felt drawn to him and couldn't explain it, but she knew she needed to feel his arms wrapped around her. When she stepped up to him he enveloped her in his arms and held her a little tighter than he probably should have, but he needed to reassure himself that it was really her. Weaving her arms around his back, she felt safe there, and familiar, taking a deep breath she burrowed deep into his chest and inhaled his masculine scent.

"Everything will be ok Little Girl." Tank spoke softly to her.

Her body began to tremble and he helped her to sit on the couch that was by his side. Her heartbeat had not slowed down from the moment that she stepped in the room. She was looked down at her hands and completely unfocused on anything that was going on around her at the moment, she was overwhelmed with both emotions and memories. The headache was slightly receding but she felt dizzy.

Her voice had been a balm to Ranger's soul, and he felt as if everything would be good again. His heart swelled with the love that he had for her, but she never looked his way, instead, her eyes were glued to AJ standing in the middle of all of them. Ranger had watched with a detached fascination as she went straight to AJ, as she conversed with her father and saw the recognition and the anger in her eyes at him. Never before had he seen that look directed at her father, others yes, but never her father. She seemed stronger somehow, but he wasn't willing to give that credit to AJ. No, he wasn't responsible for anything good to come out of this. But, she was standing up for herself, speaking to her father as though she knew things, but how much, he would have to find out later. When he heard her call AJ her husband he wanted to throw up, he wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all, how could a man that kidnapped her convince her to marry him?

Ranger knew that she was afraid of marriage before, but how could things be so different now? Ten months she had been missing, and she had been with a man that was as dangerous, if not more than he was himself? Was she that different that her entire outlook had changed so drastically? Yes, she must be, but would she still be the same Babe, and would she ever gain back her entire memory? It wasn't until he saw her turn and her pregnancy belly came into view that the monster truly came to life within him. The rage that pumped through him was unlike anything that he had ever felt before. His woman, his Babe, was pregnant by the man who had taken her from all of them. He felt like he had completely separated from reality and as she stepped away from AJ he only waited a few moments before he took action.

She was completely unaware of what was going on when Ranger lunged at AJ taking the man down to the floor, both punching and kicking at the other. There was nothing choreographed about this fight, this was sheer rage between the two men. As they pounded on one another they yelled, they threatened, they accused each other of being cowards. No one stepped in to stop them, and no one was really even paying attention to them, they were all riveted on Stephanie and what she was going through. They all wanted to rejoice for finally finding her, but a new sense of sadness swept through them, and a new sense of uncertainty lay heavily on them.

Tank tried to explain some of the things to her that had happened as they sat and ignored the room around them, but she just kept shaking her head no. She wasn't ready to hear any of this, she truly wanted to go back just a few days to when they were the most happy and start over. Justin sat by her other side holding her tightly against him praying that it would all work out in the end, but at the moment he hated himself for what he had done.

Frank Plum stood rooted to his spot unable to move to comfort his daughter. She wouldn't look at him, and he wished so many things were different. He didn't know what AJ had told his daughter, but he had seen recognition in her eyes when they locked onto each other. He had felt a heavy weight lifted off of him when he saw her, but now, he knew that the perfect vision of their reunion was impossible. He needed to show her that he could support her, now and forever. He feared losing her from this point forward, and was willing to do anything that she asked, other than leave and never come back. Seeing that she was pregnant was not something that he could wrap his mind around at the moment. He needed to do something, and right at the moment that was give her the space that she needed.

Bobby came over to check her blood pressure and found that it was dangerously high, no wonder really, walking in on her husband being held at gun point and then the small discussion with her father was enough for any healthy person to go through, and here she was, pregnant and already with high blood pressure. He frowned at her and tried to get her to lay down, but something caught her attention and she threw herself across the room.

Angry voices filtered in his ears and she heard Ranger voice say, 'I'll kill you for doing this to her.', and then they heard Stephanie scream 'no' just before she collapsed to the floor. The men fighting immediately released each other and ran to her, but Justin made it there first. Bobby quickly took control of the situation and ordered them to call an ambulance.

Cal and Ram tried to grab AJ and keep him from Stephanie but Justin quickly stepped in, "He won't hurt her, and if she wakes up and he's not by her side things will only get worse. For now you need to let him go. I know you don't want to, but you need too. Think of Stephanie. He won't be going anywhere without her, but he also won't endanger their health by trying to take her somewhere else either." He said from the floor next to Stephanie's limp form.

Bobby worked quickly to check her over and knew that they needed to get her to the hospital as soon as possible. Looking around he saw all of the worried faces, no blank faces were worn right now. They had all come so far to bring her back home; it was like a knife cutting into them to think that they could lose her, after having just found her again.

Frank turned to AJ, "You will not be taking off with her this time, and if you try I will kill you with my own hands. When she is taken care of then we will finish with you, so enjoy what little time you have AJ, because there isn't much left of it for you."

AJ stepped forward to take Justin's spot next to Stephanie and all of the men looked on in fascination as he spoke to her, pleading with her to be ok, promising her the world if she would just wake up for him.

Ranger wanted to argue who would hold her hand, but she had not even noticed him in the room before she collapsed and he knew that he would have to bide his time, he still had to absorb the fact that she was married and then come to find out she was pregnant. He questioned whether there was any of his Babe left in the woman that lay there on the floor. He knew he loved her, but could he love her the right way now? Would he be able to accept the child that she carried? Would she accept him in her life? He realized only time would tell, but now the real question was, would they really have the time to figure it out, or would they lose her and the baby before they even had a chance.

Watching her being loaded on the stretcher caused his heart to nearly stop. There was a commotion as to who would ride with them, and Ranger watched Justin take charge. "AJ has to ride with her in case she wakes up, we've already been through this, Lester and I will ride along as well to make sure that nothing happens. Follow us to the hospital." And the doors closed to the ambulance.

There was no time to argue the fact that she could disappear again, so without any hesitation they all climbed into the vehicles that they arrived in and took off after the ambulance. The SUV's were silent inside, all the men were in their own thoughts of what was going on, and none were willing to admit that things could take a serious turn for the worst in such a short period of time, and they all prayed silently for her to be okay.

**Okay, so yes some drama here, and I promise the next update will resolve the health concerns so don't worry too much. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. I was planning to update on Friday, but it may be delayed a bit. This is the last week of school so we have minimum days for the rest of the week and then we have a swim meet on Saturday most of the day for my daughter. After that postings should be as usual. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks to everyone who had followed along with this story and especially those who have reviewed. **


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the response so far. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it**

**Behind Blue Eyes Chp 16**

The ambulance pulled into the Emergency Room bay and the doors were thrown open. The hospital was ready and the doctor rushed down the hall with the gurney. Before they disappeared behind the door he said, "You will all wait here. No one is to pass through those doors." And they all disappeared.

The SUV's were left at the ER doors and everyone rushed in to find out how she was. Everyone caught a glimpse of the gurney as the doors closed, watching as the woman that had held all of their hearts was rushed away from them, no one knowing what would happen. There was a silence that hung in the air that was so stifling that each man felt that they were drowning.

Justin stood next to AJ, watching what the man would do next; the emotions that flew across his face were enough to bring any man to his knees. There was a sudden crash behind them as Frank threw a chair out of his way to close the distance between himself and AJ. Both AJ and Justin turned just in time to see Frank's fist flying at AJ. By the time the first punch landed, Justin was trying to step between the man he respected for his entire military career and his boss. It took three men to hold Frank back from AJ. AJ was consumed by his fears of possibly losing Stephanie and his son, that he just took the punch, no further reaction was outwardly visible.

"If anything happens to my daughter I will make sure that you have a very painful end." Frank said as he struggled against the men's' grip.

AJ just looked at him, "If anything happens to her and my son there will be nothing left of me to make you feel any better." AJ turned away from the group and walked to a window, he looked out into the courtyard, but saw nothing, he knew his world would end if he lost Stephanie. Ranger and his men were able to get control of Frank and sat him down in one of the chairs to wait to hear something on Stephanie.

The doctor came out a short time later to speak with the family of Mrs. Hamilton. When AJ turned around and saw the doctor had a grim look on his face his heart nearly stopped. His wife's doctor had been called right away and had just finished his examination.

Before the doctor could speak Frank's booming voice halted his speech, "You will not give that man any information on my daughter. I will be the one to make any decisions about her care. He has no rights where she is concerned."

The doctor stunned by Frank's outburst looked at him. "I'm sorry, but AJ is the one Michelle has been coming in with for each visit, and he is her husband. He is the one that has authorization to make the medical decisions here. You may be family, but you have no authority to make any medical decisions for her. But, if AJ says that you may hear what her condition is, then I will continue out here instead of in a separate more private room."

At that moment Frank began to lunge toward AJ again, but was caught by Ranger and Tank. It was Ranger's voice that brought him out of his rage. "Frank, you're only making things worse." Frank turned his rage filled eyes on Ranger. "We need to find out how she is and make sure that she gets the care she needs. You're only making things worse by delaying that."

Frank spat, "That's my daughter in there and you expect me to leave her health in the hands of this man? I thought you loved her."

"I do, and that's why we need to work together. We've been looking for her all this time and putting that first, but now that we've found her we need to put her health first, not our need for revenge." Ranger paused and let that sink in to Franks mind. When Ranger spoke again he spoke softly, so that only Frank could hear him. "I don't like this any more than you do, but we've come this far and found her, we can't fight against him right now to only lose her because we delayed her care. AJ will pay, but that can't be right now. No matter how much we want to rip him apart, that can't be right now."

Frank slumped in their grip and finally nodded in agreement. They all turned to the doctor and waited to hear what was happening to Stephanie.

AJ replied sadly, "They deserve to hear how she's doing as well."

The doctor nodded his head and looked at AJ. "It's not good. Her blood pressure is way too high, her heart rate is erratic, and she is still unconscious. The baby, for the moment seems to be fine, but if we can't get her BP down and soon that may change drastically. We have given her medication to help bring the pressure down, but so far it has had no effect. We are moving her to the ICU to keep a close eye on both of them. I would like to keep her sedated to allow the medicine to work, but at this point it is too risky to add more medications into her system than we already have. Until she shows some kind of improvement I am not going to be giving her anything further, unless absolutely necessary."

There was a pause in his speech, "I think that the stress has placed her in some kind of coma, and with the past history of head trauma, her unconscious state may be her body's way of dealing with the stress, which may work in our favor." He paused again, "However, we will not know when she chooses to wake up, so I need to make sure that we limit the number of people in the room and, any issues that you all seem to have need to be left at the door." A stern look was given to the man that had claimed to be her father. "She needs quiet, and peace until she wakes up, you will not be getting into any arguments in that room. If you can't control yourself, then you will be removed from this hospital. Do I make myself clear?"

The men around the room nodded in understanding. "She will be moved into her room in a few minutes, only two at a time will be allowed in her room. Let them get her settled in and then you can go see her in about 30 minutes." With that the doctor turned around and headed out the door.

Justin stepped forward and spoke then, "I now you all are not going to like this, but AJ needs to be in that room when she wakes up." The room began to erupt and he put up his hand. "I know you don't believe it, but he will do anything to protect her. It is obviously too dangerous to move her anywhere, he would never put in that kind of danger. As Ranger has said, we need to put Stephanie first, and right now, AJ is what will keep her calm. We don't know how much she remembers."

AJ stared at Justin as he spoke. The man would do anything to protect his wife, but it seemed as though he had known what was going to happen. The question running through his head right now, 'Was Justin responsible for this entire mess?'. If that turned out to be the case, he would have to think about what he should do about it. No one got away with betraying him, and Justin certainly wouldn't be an exception.

Ranger stepped toward AJ and pinned him with a glare and spoke in a cold tone, "None of us are going anywhere AJ, so I would suggest that you make sure that you say your prayers she survives, or no matter how little of you is left, we will all be taking out our anger on you before we end your sorry excuse of a life."

AJ just stared back, no response was offered. After a few moments AJ simply turned around and walked to the elevator to head to the ICU where they were keeping his wife. A short time later he was allowed in the room to see her.

She looked so peaceful laying there with her eyes closed, arms at her sides and her baby bump visible under the covers. There was a furrow to her brow and the beep of the monitors was faster and more irregular than it should have been. He wanted to weep on the spot. There were so many things that he wished he could have done differently, but he knew that there was nothing to be done. He could only hope that she wouldn't hate him in the end.

He moved to the side of the bed and sat in the chair that had been placed there for him. He took her hand in his and placed his lips gently on top of her hand. He took in her scent, the softness of her skin, the slender fingers that he loved to play with. He rested his forehead against her hand and didn't move other than to breathe.

Justin found AJ in the same position he had been in for hours, no words had been spoken, and no movement from either AJ or Stephanie had been made. Justin took in the unsettled expression on Stephanie's face as she lay there and could only pray that she would forgive him for turning her world upside down. Nurses came in to check her vitals, but worked around the men in the room, feeling the tension in the air, but saying nothing.

AJ finally sat up after hours of silence and looked right at Justin. "You did this, didn't you?" By the expression alone, AJ had his answer. He took a few calming breaths before he continued. "I believed you to be honest with me that you would protect her with your life, and this is what I get. We could all lose her now." AJ seethed.

XXXXXX

In the waiting room Frank, Ranger and Tank all sat huddled in a group. None of them really speaking, but none of them truly knowing where to start. The truth that they could lose Stephanie weighed heavily on their hearts and consciences. Frank was the first to finally speak, "AJ shouldn't be anywhere near her. You know that, yet you push me to allow him to be in that room."

Tank looked at Frank but Ranger beat him to the punch, "She needs what is familiar to her right now. She needs to stay calm when she wakes up. You of all people should have known that she would react badly to what we were planning to do. No one has ever gotten away with telling her what to do, ever. You wanted to force her to come home with no real explanation." Ranger said coolly.

"Yet it was your fight with AJ that caused the collapse. It seems that it was your words that drew her attention and sent her over the edge. Don't put this all on me here. I would do anything for my little girl. Yes, I've made mistakes, but I plan to rectify them. I'm her father, so therefore she will be more willing to accept my apology than she will yours." Frank offered.

"If anything is the same as it was before Stephanie's accident it sounds like her kindness and her ability to forgive even the most hurtful acts has remained. She has always accepted everyone for who and what they are; she never wanted to change anyone, even you. I may have lost control of my actions today, but that was one incident of a few that have hurt her, compared to the many that you let her down." Ranger replied.

Frank roared, "He has been the one hiding things from her the entire time that she has been with him, yet he is in there with her now. He could figure out a way to explain everything away to her, and convince her to stay away from us. Are you willing to accept that if she does choose to stay with him?"

"No. And that is a large reason that Justin is in there with them. But, she will need to know that AJ is okay, and in order to keep her calm at this point she needs him. You can't just force your desires on her, it's never worked on her before, and now it will and has caused health problems. I'm not willing to chance that she will just recover from this like she has everything else in the past." Ranger looked at Frank, "Things are different now." He paused. "We didn't expect her to be pregnant. It never crossed my mind as an option, but that doesn't change the fact that she is."

There was a long silence in the room. "The pregnancy alone should tell us that she is different than when she was in Trenton. She never wanted to have kids, or at least never expressed an interest in that option. That obviously changed, and we need to re-think how we should move forward from here." Ranger looked around the room and saw the sullen faces before returning his gaze to Frank. "No matter how we feel about this child, she needs to know that we support her no matter what. Knowing her the way I used to, it is a given that she will not give up that child, so she will have a constant reminder of what has happened to her. Do you think you can support her and accept the child regardless of how it was conceived? If you think that she will allow any negativity around that child you will be sorely mistaken. She would do anything to protect that child, no matter how she has changed, she will always fight for those that need protection, and that child is going to be her number one priority, no matter who its father is." There was a long silence after his speech.

"And what about you Ranger, can you accept the fact that she has a child with another man? The man that kidnapped her and used her as a tool against you is that child's' father. Will you be able to accept that child and not look at him with disgust and guilt?" Frank asked. Everyone just looked at him and waited for his response. It was as though everything hinged on his answer. Could he truly accept the child in his life? Would Stephanie allow him to be in her life again for that to even matter?

XXXXXX

I was floating through different conversations that I saw myself having. I saw myself walking up to the porch of a house with Tank behind me, as I turned around to leave and stepped off the porch Tank was a few feet behind me. Turning around I saw a man leap off the roof and tackle Tank to the ground. The man was quickly in cuffs, but Tank was still laying on the ground with his phone to his ear. The next thing I knew there was the sound of an ambulance in the background. A voice whispered in my ear, '_I don't do relationships_'; causing me to look around, but there was no one there.

Next I was sitting on the sidewalk across the street from a car that was on fire. Blood was running from my head and Bobby was kneeling down next to me trying to staunch the bleeding. I saw his lips move, but I couldn't hear what he was saying, but the look in his eyes clearly showed concern for me. My shoulders were relaxed as he took care of me and finally placed a band aid on my forehead. He then sat next to me on the sidewalk and placed his arm around my shoulder pulling me close to him and placing a kiss on the top of my head. I heard someone say '_I love you, in my own way'_, but I couldn't understand what that meant, however I had this overwhelming sadness wash over me as I watched the scene continue to play out in front of me.

A dance club with lots of people around us, all moving to the beat, I could feel the sweat dripping down my back. I was swaying to the beat of the music and grinding up against Lester. The smiles on our faces showed that we were having a good time and were relaxed with one another. We moved through several different songs and finally joined a group of large men. I noticed that some of them also looked familiar, but only faintly.

I was stand in the dark on an empty street. Bobby, Tank and Lester were wearing what looked like flack vests and I could clearly see the smile on Lester's face as he said, "You don't know how to have fun." I could tell that I felt uncomfortable in my surroundings, but the comment caused me to laugh. Then I heard '_I'm leaving permanently, you need to move on_.' and I felt my legs buckle underneath me as the most horrible pain hit my chest, causing a sob to be ripped from my throat.

I was on the beach laying against AJ's chest watching the waves roll in. His arms gently wrapped around my waist and our fingers entwined. There was a look of pure love on both of our faces. His chin was resting on my head and I could feel the beat of his heart against my back.

I was in a business typing at a computer, dressed all in black, my hair pulled back into a pony tail. I couldn't tell what I was doing, but I knew I was working. A man walked up behind me and spoke, "You ready to go Bomber. Our surveillance shift starts in about 15 minutes." He spoke with a smile. I had turned to him and smiled directly up at him, "Sure thing Ram, just let me finish this one and then we can get going." I knew this man, but why? Where was I?

We were driving in the countryside, the top down on the convertible. The wind was blowing my hair out behind us and the sunglasses we both wore protected our eyes. His right hand held mine on the center console and he gave me a gentle squeeze. There were huge smiles on both of our faces as AJ hit the gas and sped through the open fields. The flowers blooming were a beautiful sight and I was thinking that life couldn't be more perfect.

More scenes like this played as if I was watching a movie. I saw myself with several men who wore nothing but black, and I knew that I felt safe, but I couldn't tell why. But at the same time I was saddened by the sound of a voice over and over again telling me that '_I can't be what you need me to be. My life is too dangerous for you._'

XXXXXX

The beeping of the monitors in the room became erratic, and there were several warning bells that started to go off at the same time. Her breathing had become labored and it seemed that she was struggling to take in air. The nursing staff and the doctor went rushing into the room and forced AJ and Justin to step outside while they worked on Stephanie. They watched through the window as the doctor and nurses checked everything out and eventually gave her something in her IV. AJ closed his eyes and prayed like he had never prayed before; willing to do anything to make sure that both his wife and his unborn son would be okay.

**Yes, I'm sorry for the cliff hanger, but I promise now that the first week of summer is over I won't be running around for different activities for the kids. Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. I will be doing Wednesday and Friday posts this week as well. Thank you for following along with this one. Please let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. All errors are mine. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the responses I have been receiving. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 17

The doctor came out of her room and took in all of the men standing around waiting to hear exactly what had happened. This was not going to be easy on any of them. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself and then looked AJ right in the eye. "We had to give her the medication we were trying to wait on. Something caused her heart to stop and we had to adjust our original plans for her. What it was that triggered this reaction I have no idea, but at this point it really doesn't matter. I have placed her in a medically induced coma temporarily. Hopefully this will help to lower her heart rate and get her blood pressure on a more normal level. This way we can prevent any damage to her or the baby. Then we can reduce the medication and we will have to figure out a way to keep it down once she wakes up."

The doctor paused and looked around before continuing. "Whatever is going on between all of you needs to stop right now. It's not good for her and we could have already lost her. If you are in the room you will only talk about positive things, talk to her, not about her or what is going on out here. She may be out of it, but she more than likely can hear everything that you say to her."

The doctor excused himself and left the men to decide who would go in and spend time with her. His work was to keep her and her baby alive.

Over the next few days all of the men took turns sitting with her, talking, holding her hand, praying that she would return to them soon and that everything would be alright. Frank had finally calmed down enough to have a talk with his men and apologized for his actions. He knew that some of the things that he had said were uncalled for, but he was angry, and he knew and understood they were all just as angry with the situation. Ranger had kept his distance from Frank, but he had heard what had been said.

Ranger sat at her bedside and took her hand in his. That tingle was at the back of his neck like every time they were together in Trenton. He knew that she used to feel it too, but wondered now if it was possible that she felt it now as well. He spoke to her of the things we wished he could have done differently, how he knew he was wrong for how he had treated her and would do anything she wanted to if she would just wake up and smile at him once.

Frank sat next to her bed and spoke of how much he loved her, how proud he was of her, that he never gave up on her, and he knew he would find her. He told her that he wanted her to come home and also told her of all the people that missed her terribly. He couldn't hold the tears back as he sat and watched how still she was. He took in the swollen stomach and placed a hand on her. "I promise to be a better grandfather to this little guy than I was a father to you. Just please give me that chance, even though I know I don't deserve it." He placed a kiss on her forehead and made his way to the waiting room.

AJ sat in a seat near a window by himself and stared at nothing. Frank approached him and the others tensed not knowing what the man would do. "I will never forgive you for what you have done to my daughter, or the rest of us. I know you are that child's father, and things must be different for Stephanie to have agreed to it, but if I find out that you harmed her in any way I will skin you alive." Frank paused holding AJ's gaze. "As of right now the only thing that matters is Stephanie and that baby. I know that whatever we do to you will affect her as well, and I am not willing to put her in any more danger. I will abide by whatever punishment she chooses for you when she knows the entire truth. I won't like it, but I will follow her wishes."

The men in black all stood and looked on in fascination. Many of them wanted to argue, but all of them knew that he spoke the truth, if they hurt AJ against Stephanie's wishes, not only would it hurt her, but they risked the chances of losing her forever.

Ranger stepped forward and asked, "Will you accept whatever punishment Stephanie chooses for you AJ? No matter what it is?"

AJ just looked at Frank, blank face in place, never giving Ranger any indication that he heard what had been said. "No matter what Stephanie chooses I will accept my punishment. You may not believe it, but I love her with everything that I am. After getting to know her and spend time with her, I could never intentionally hurt her, she changed me."

AJ turned back to the window and spoke nothing further.

XXXXXX

Every once in a while Stephanie could feel a tingle that would run from her neck down her spine, but couldn't understand what it was. She was laying in the sun on the beach of their property soaking up the sun. The sand was soft as she ran her hands through it, the sounds of the waves hitting the beach was lulling her to sleep. She could hear voices every once in a while, some that were very familiar and made her smile, and others that sounded a little familiar but she couldn't really understand why.

With each different voice came a new memory, only this time they were all happy memories. She saw her grandma at the beauty parlor laughing and having a good old time with her friends, Mary Lou with her kids at the park, Lester picking up on some girl at the a club they had all gone to, Bobby slinging his arm over her shoulder and telling a joke. Then there was a man dressed all in black helping her learn how to shoot. He looked familiar, and she felt that tingle go up and down her neck and spine again. Tank was telling her, 'the only place a woman drives with me is in my bed'. Out of no where she heard a voice saying 'Proud of you Babe' and she spun around but there was no one there. There were many feelings that those words brought to her, love and affection, sadness and regret, pain and sorrow.

Another scene played out in her mind, she was strapped to a chair in a room with a gun pointed off in the direction of a couch. She saw a girl sitting there and the man looked back at her, 'say anything and she's dead.' Her eyes went wide and she struggled to save them both, but then the door was opening and in walked the man in black she had seen before with his hands held up and surrendering. Before she could do anything the same man was on the floor bleeding.

Her mind was racing and then a new scene played in her mind, the last thing that she remembered before waking up in Greece. She was picking up a skip and fought with him. Then they were walking to the car and laughing when there was an explosion and her everything hurt. And then her world went dark again.

She heard in the distance 'Babe, I never meant to hurt you. Please come back to me, to all of us. We need you to be alright. I'd do anything for you if you just came back to us.' She knew who that was, she knew that voice, it was the same one that she had been hearing over and over again and dreaming about. This same voice was the one that had caused so much pain and heartache, no matter what he said now, he could never take that back. She knew this was Ranger.

XXXXXX

The monitors had been watched very closely over the last few days, and her blood pressure had been steady and at an acceptable level since they had had to sedate her. Now everyone was just waiting for her to wake up. The person in the room with her had been changed regularly, but Justin had always been in the room. He was not letting anyone hurt her as they had done in the past.

The doctor came into the room and forced everyone out when the monitors began to pick up distress. It was only a few minutes later that he came out of her room and looked around. Everyone was waiting to hear what was going on.

"She is awake." He paused. "She is groggy, and seems to be going in and out of consciousness, which is understandable, but she spoke one word." They all waited to hear what she had said. "Is there anyone here who knows what 'Ranger' is supposed to mean?"

Ranger stepped forward "That would be me." Then he waited to hear what he should do.

The doctor's only reply, "Do not upset her."

Ranger only nodded and then paused before opening the door to her room. Justin sat in the chair next to her and held her hand. Ranger took in her form laying there on the bed and her eyes closed. Justin looked up at him and carefully placed her hand back on the bed before standing up and getting closer to him to only head out the door with a warning glace at Ranger.

He walked closer to the bed and just stood there looking down at her. She was so beautiful. Sleep was always his favorite time to watch her, she had a calming effect on him and he had gone so long without being able to feel this. He sat next to her bed in the chair he had been spending time in these last few days and just gazed at her. He took in every inch of her and hoped that it wouldn't be his list time seeing her.

He couldn't resist touching her for long and reached for her hand. Once he took it in hers he placed his forehead on the top of her hand and closed his eyes. He took a few deep breathes and then looked up at her face. Her eyes were open and she was looking back at him with the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen, and that he missed so much. He could tell that she was tired; the strain to keep her eyes open he could tell was difficult. He saw some recognition in her eyes, but wasn't quiet sure how much she had remembered.

They stared at each other for a few minutes, her eyes fluttering, before either one of them spoke. Stephanie broke the silence first, "You can't kill him." There was a paused while she swallowed. "No matter what, you can't kill him." That was the only thing that she was able to get out before her eyes closed again and her breathing evened out and he knew she was asleep again.

He knew that if any of the Stephanie that had been there originally remained that this would be her decision, she never wanted to feel as though she was responsible for anyone's death. And in this case he knew it would be even worse, because what would she tell her son as he grew up about his father. It took a while before Ranger could truly compose himself enough to go out in the hallway and confirm that she had woken up.

When he finally stepped out into the hallway the silence was deafening. The men all stood around and looked at him, waiting for what Stephanie had said to him. He looked around and met each one of their eyes. He turned to Frank and said, "She has some of her memories back, but I don't know to what extent. She did tell me that we can't kill him. No matter what he is to still be alive." He let everyone absorb that and then AJ and Justin entered the room to wait with her. AJ seemed different since they had come to their agreement of his punishment a few days ago, but thinking about what had just transpired, the thing that seemed to upset him the most was her first word when she woke up was Ranger, rather than AJ.

The rest of the men all made it to the waiting room and waited their turn to see her and speak with her. Eventually over the course of the next two days everyone had a chance to speak with her, although she gave them no indication of what her relationship with AJ would be from this point on. Justin and Lester had both been given the approval of the doctor to discuss with her what her memory was missing and what she had been told by AJ that was either the truth or just little snippets of reality.

It even seemed at this point that AJ was uncomfortable being in her room. The uncertainty was weighing on everyone. But no sooner had that thought crossed anyone's mind then she had requested to see AJ, and that request was that it would be alone.

Frank, Ranger and AJ walked down the hall together and opened the door to her room. She was propped up higher in the bed than she had been the last few days, and she looked as though the nurses had given her a shower and helped her dress in regular pj's instead of the hospital gowns that she had been wearing.

Stephanie looked up and noticed the three men in the room and went to speak but was cut off by Frank. "We only came to let you know that we will be out in the hallway. We will give you the privacy that you want, but we won't be far away if you need us."

Her only response was to nod her head and watch both Ranger and Frank back out the door and it softly close behind them.

Stephanie looked at AJ and studied him; he looked sad, guilty, and regretful. She had so many emotions running through her right at the moment it took her a while to speak, but when she finally did she said, "Please have a seat AJ. We need to talk."

He could only offer a half smile, nod and then took the seat next to her bed.

XXXXXX

"I don't like them in a room together alone." Frank offered.

"But it's what she wanted, and you know as well as I do that she would have fought us on it if we tried to stay." Ranger replied.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Frank grumbled.

"She's different than she used to be." Ranger commented.

Frank turned to look at the man standing next to him. "Does it matter that she's different from the way she was before?"

"It's not a bad thing. I'm just not used to her being so straight forward as she seems to be now. I'll have to get used to it. It seems that the Queen of Denial is long gone." Ranger replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, it does. But then denial never really got her anywhere before anyway. Maybe that will be reason enough for her to come back to Trenton." Frank said.

"We can only hope." Ranger said sadly.

**And there you have it. Tell me what you think please. Not too bad of a cliffhanger today. **


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. All errors are mine. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I am completely floored by the responses I have been receiving. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

**Possible Tissue Warning**

Behind Blue Eyes Chp 18

As AJ sat in the chair next to the bed he took in every inch of her. He knew that by the look on her face he was in for it. He knew what she was like when she was angry, but it had never yet been directed towards him, until now that is. Looking at her face he saw the furrow of her brow, the pain and confusion in her eyes. He wished he could make it all go away, but he also knew that she deserved the truth. If there was any chance of her accepting him in her life once again, he had to come clean with her. It was ripping his heart out to think that he had been the one to cause her so much pain.

Stephanie stared at the man she knew as her husband and wondered if she truly ever really knew this man at all. She didn't have all of her memories, and was going off of some of what Lester and Justin had told her happened, but it all felt right as they explained it. She felt as if everything that she had come to believe in the almost year that she had been gone was a lie. The man sitting in front of her could answer so many of the questions that she had running through her mind. She ran her hand over her belly and had to fight the tears from falling down her face.

It was a while before either of them broke the silence, they just stared at each other, but it was one word from Stephanie that caused AJ to crumble, "Why?"

He wished she hadn't asked that question, but he understood why she would. He couldn't answer right away. Stephanie waited him out, something that before the accident had happened she wouldn't have been able to do she realized.

He looked at the ground as he spoke. "Originally you were only a means to an end that I had played out in my head so many times, over and over again. I needed to get back at Ranger and his team for what they had done to me. You were their weakness, the one thing that would bring them to their knees, and I took advantage of that. I took you from them." AJ explained.

He took a few deep breaths and looked at the floor. "All I could think about was getting back at them. I never thought about the other people around them, or originally about you." He paused. "I watched both of you for weeks, you were working with a man that I loath, and I couldn't understand how you could accept him, and the rest of them after all of the horrible things that they had done. It didn't make sense to me." He paused again. "I watched you for a while longer after coming to the conclusion that losing you would cause the most pain, and I started to see how other people acted around you." He looked sad as he continued. "You were so outgoing, friendly and accepting of even your worst skip. I could read in your expression that when you said something or promised something, that you meant it with your whole heart." He looked away from her. "I had never met someone like that before, and the more that I watched you the more you intrigued me, and the more I desired to be near you. I couldn't really explain it to myself. I had heard about your life from many different people, just by asking around and was amazed at how someone that had gone through everything that you had could still see the world as half full. The house you grew up in, with a mother who was a raving bitch, the things that happened to you as a young girl, the expectations of where you grew up, you never let any of that bring you down, at least not completely."

He stopped talking and tried to gather his thoughts. How far should he go? How much should he actually tell her? The one thing he knew he could never tell her was that he was originally planning to torture her. Deep down he knew that he never would have followed through with it, but he would have made the others think that is exactly what he had done, there he felt absolutely no remorse. They all deserved what they got. He looked up at her and saw that she was wearing a blank expression waiting for him to continue. To him, he could see nothing of what she was thinking. She was breathing normally, her heart monitor was showing a normal rate at this point, and the fetal monitor was fine as well. He knew he had to keep going.

"I fell in love with you before I had even met you. I knew that you would be just as accepting of me, as you were of everyone else if you gave me a chance, but with Ranger and the others around I knew that I couldn't come out in the open and introduce myself. I had to wait for the right time, and I still needed to make them pay for what they had done to me. All of these years they had thought they were the best at what they did, but I was right under their noses and they never even suspected me. I was able to move around Trenton completely undetected and gather information on all of you without much effort." He laughed humorlessly. "It really was sad that they never picked up on me at all. Even at the end, before we left Trenton and came here, they never once put feelers out to see if it was me. I was standing in several of the crowds of different explosions you had before you got hurt and not one of them noticed me." Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him and he knew he had to get back on track.

"I wasn't the one that caused your accident." He was looking her straight in the eyes. "That explosion going off was just as much a surprise to me as it was to you and your skip." He cleared his throat. "But what happened right after the explosion changed everything for me. I saw you fight him and get him cuffed, then I saw the two of you laughing on the way to the car, I couldn't understand how he would be laughing with someone who was about to take him back to jail, especially after fighting you off so he wouldn't have to go. Once the explosion happened and the two of you were laying there I saw him get up and help you. I before that there was something special about you, but in that moment I knew that I had to see it and learn about it for myself. What person in their right mind, when they have the opportunity to get away stays to help the one person that was taking their freedom away, and he did. It wasn't because he was such a good guy; it was because that person was you. In that moment I knew that I needed to feel what it was like to be truly accepted and not looked at as a monster. No woman had ever given that to me before, all of them had seen something in me that made them eventually turn away from me, but I knew you wouldn't."

"So, you took me." Stephanie stated rather than questioned.

"Yes. I spent the two weeks you were in a coma planning and following out those plans to get you here, with me and away from everyone you knew." He stated simply. "In those two weeks I listened to the people around you and knew that if nothing else I needed to get you out of there before they completely destroyed you." He paused again. "I knew you would need to get away from the people that would hurt you and were hurting you the most. I couldn't let that happen to you. I know what it feels like to be turned against, to have those you thought of as family act without thought of what you wanted or did, others that form their own opinion, regardless of the facts or your desires." He stopped a moment. "I had this unexplainable urge to protect you, and yes by doing what I did, I was able to get my revenge on them, so honestly it was a win-win situation for me."

Looking straight at her, he said, "I didn't know what to expect when you woke up, I didn't expect you to have no memory what so ever, but when you did, I felt like God had given me a gift. A chance for you to get to know me without any preconceived notions about me in case they had ever told you about me. I was already in love with you, and I wanted you to fall in love with me." A small smile appeared on his face. "Since you've arrived here, I have been the happiest that I have ever been. You have given me more than I could have ever dreamed of in my life." He slowly moved his hand to her belly and when she didn't pull away he gently placed his hand on her belly. "Before you I never thought I would be a father. No one had ever seen me in that way, but the love that I feel for you has only grown since you are carrying my child."

There was a long silence between them as they held each others gaze. Stephanie knew there was more to the story, but wasn't sure how far she wanted to push. Some of the things that she had been told AJ had done were horrible, yet the man that she had known was gentle, caring and even romantic. She didn't have all of her memories, she didn't quiet know how much of her past she actually remembered, but deep down she knew that she could never spend the rest of her life with a man that was so willing to hurt others for their own personal gain, no matter how much she thought she loved him, no matter the fact that he was her child's father. She could never trust him again; he had lied to her for so long, and manipulated her the entire time. She needed to know if some of the things she had been told were true.

"What happened to the person who caused the explosion?" She asked flatly.

AJ grimaced at her question; he didn't want to give her details of what he had done. He was a different man now that he had her love, or at least did. He looked down at the floor and answered, "I took care of him." He paused. "I couldn't get let him get away with trying to kill you. And I won't go into detail about it what I did. You don't need to hear it."

She just stared back at him for a moment. "That was a pretty gruesome way to make him pay from what I've heard." She waited to see what his reaction to the fact that she knew what he had done. The reaction that she saw was not surprising.

AJ blanched at the idea she knew. The sadness in his eyes was overwhelming to her. She felt so much for this man, yet he had done nothing but lied to her since she woke up.

"You lied to me the entire time AJ." She stated flatly.

AJ shook his head. "I may have lied to you in the beginning, but I would have never lied to you about how much I love you. You mean more to me than anything before. The child that we created together was from love, nothing else."

"Yet this child would be the perfect thing to throw in the faces of those you wanted to get back at. You would have used our son, and me to prove that you were the better man, that you did what they couldn't. You took me away from them and fed me just enough information so that I wouldn't want to go back." Stephanie explained.

"I needed you to fall in love with me. I have loved you every second of every day since the day I saw you I just didn't understand it until you got hurt. I have done nothing but make sure that you were healed and had the best care possible." AJ said sadly.

"And you lied to me while doing it. You told me that you and I married before we left Trenton. That I chose to leave there and never go back, that I had a different name. You convinced me to marry you, that I thought was supposed to be a renewal of our vows, when in fact it was the first time either of us had expressed those words to each other. Is the marriage even legal?" She commented.

"Yes, one hundred percent legal. You even signed with you usual signature on the certificate. Yes I did tell you that, but by the time I truly felt I should tell you the truth it was already too late. I couldn't lose you. I couldn't chance the possibility that you would turn around and chose to go back home. To be around the people that would have killed the person that you should have been had they left you alone, that you are here with me." AJ stated adamantly.

"Yet here we are. I know the truth about how we met. I know that you have been lying to me since the beginning. I know that some of what has happened has been of my own choosing, but I didn't have all the facts. You never gave me the chance to even see if I could choose you as a possibility of the man I would spend the rest of my life with. You took that choice away from me AJ." She said with tears streaming down her face.

He saw the look of anguish on her face and wanted so badly to comfort her. Only he knew that she wouldn't want him to come any closer at this point. He had to let her get out how she was feeling.

"I know that I have never felt so loved and cherished in my life." She said with her eyes closed. "And it was all a lie. I fell in love with a man that made me believe that he would do anything to protect me, yet he was the one that hurt me the most. I could almost forgive you for taking me from my home. I know some of what you told me about my past was true, about how horribly some people had treated me. I know that I have changed since being here, and for that I should probably be grateful, but you took away my choices. That is something that I can never forgive you for." She said sadly. "I will never really understand how you could have done this to me."

AJ swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. "I had to make them pay for what they did to me. They ruined my life, they left me to die on that mission. They never even listened to a thing that I had to say. Ranger took the word of an informant over mine, my own team." He said angrily. "It took me so long to get away and then to prove that I was innocent of what they had accused me of. The military court marshaled me. I was a military man through and through. I never had anything else in mind other than serving my country. Then I got a Court Marshal and was branded a traitor before I could even do anything about it. I was lucky to be able to convince the few people I knew in power to believe me and accept the evidence that proved I was innocent, I had to basically create a new life for myself. Yeah I had money, but that doesn't matter to me. All of my dreams had been destroyed, and none of them even took a glance back at what they did. I had to make them pay."

"Then you are no better than them in thinking you could get away with this. You took the life I had away from me, without letting me be the one to make that decision. Instead you chose to use me as some form of revenge AJ. You used me to get what you wanted." Stephanie cried.

"I love you, I'm so sorry that I wasn't honest with you, but I would do anything for you, that hasn't changed, no matter what you think. I would do anything that I could to take this pain away from you. God, it tears my heart apart to see you in this much pain." AJ started to cry openly. "I'm so sorry I hurt you."

"I trusted you." Stephanie cried, "My god we created a child together." She rolled to her side and clutched her stomach as she sobbed. "What am I supposed to tell him when he grows up about us?"

AJ was immediately in the bed with her, holding her while she sobbed for the loss of what she thought was her life. It was tearing him apart to not be able to fix this, to prove to her that he was different than when she first came to be with him. It was also destroying him that she had basically just told him that they wouldn't be together any more. He cried with her at the realization that his worst fears were coming true.

It took a while for both of them to calm down, and she continued to allow him to hold her. It felt so good to be in his arms, even though she knew it was all a lie. She finally spoke, "You said you would do anything I asked of you, no matter what. Will you do that now?" She asked sadly.

"Anything. The only request I have is that I not be forbidden to see our son. I know what I did was wrong, but it would be even worse for him not to know his father." AJ said quietly.

Stephanie waited a minute before replying, "I would never prevent you from being a part of his life, but you need to prove to him that you are the man of honor I grew to love. You need to show him that you know right from wrong, and are willing to do what is needed for others."

AJ nodded his head; he knew he would do anything to prove that to both her and their child. "I will."

Stephanie then said, "I want you to plead guilty to murder of the man that you punished for the explosion. You can work with an attorney and the DA in Trenton to set a plea deal, but you will serve your time for what you did." She paused. "And I want a divorce. I can't stay married to someone who would do what they did to me. I can't live a lie."

AJ once again had tears streaming down his face and hid himself in her neck and hair, inhaling her scent for what he knew would be the last time. He had to follow through with what she asked, there was no question about it, but it would be the hardest thing that he ever had to do. He took the few moments she would allow him to hold her to him as close as possible and feel her body against his as they both silently wept for what was happening. He could only say ok into her neck before he completely fell apart and she was the one comforting him.

No matter what had happened, she had still loved him, if she was honest with herself she still loved him, love doesn't just disappear, and to see him so broken was one of the hardest things she had ever had to witness. She couldn't find it in her heart to not console him, but she knew it would be the last time that she ever would. They lay in the room each crying for what they had lost that day.

**Alright, there you have it, the end of AJ and Stephanie's marriage. Let me know what you think. I hope you enjoyed it. The next update won't be until Wednesday next week. I have a crazy weekend and on top of that I have to paint my sons room. I finally convinced him to change from Cars. Now we go to The Hunger Games. Have a great weekend everyone. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, just having some fun with them. **

**Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. I know its been a while, but here is the new update so many have been asking for. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I have writing it.**

_ No matter what had happened, she had still loved him, if she was honest with herself she still loved him, love doesn't just disappear, and to see him so broken was one of the hardest things she had ever had to witness. She couldn't find it in her heart to not console him, but she knew it would be the last time that she ever would. They lay in the room each crying for what they had lost that day. _

XXXXXX

I love him, so how can I do this to him. He has shown me nothing but kindness since I have known him, yet I feel so betrayed. His touch ignites a fire within me that I can't compare to anything that I can remember, but I don't know if it's real or make believe. Does he really love me? Was it all a game to him? Was it just revenge? No, I don't think so. I can feel it in my heart that he loves me, but now it's tainted, could I forgive him? What about our son? What will I tell him as he gets older? He should know his father. I can't take that away from either of them, no matter what it costs me, they need to know each other. AJ isn't evil, he just lost his way right? No one that is purely evil could be as loving and caring as he has been with me.

Everything has been turned upside down in the last few days. As I looked down at AJ who had fallen asleep with me I took in his face. There are worry lines around his eyes, and a sadness that radiates from him even in sleep. He clings to me as if I am his lifeline, and I wish more than anything that I could continue to be that for him, because in some ways he has been mine as well. I can clearly remember why I fell in love with him, and I can honestly see myself spending the rest of my life with him, but that's not an option any more, how can you be with someone who has lied about practically everything to you? I felt as though the rug has been pulled out from under me, and in all honesty, I don't know what I'm going to do from here.

The last few months have been such bliss for me. I've had a loving husband, wonderful friends, a wonderful home, a job that I love and a baby that I was more excited about than I could have ever imagined. Ok, I couldn't remember my past, but I had had enough glimpses of it that I could honestly say it was so painful that I really didn't want to remember, but now that it's been thrown in my face, I have no choice but to face it. There is an indescribable pain in my chest that is weighing on me, and I have no idea how to get rid of it. The thought of losing AJ terrifies me! The thought of going home to Trenton, well; let's just say that I know things will not go well. You don't need to be a fortune teller to understand this feeling of foreboding; it's almost as if a noose around my neck is tightening the longer I'm here in the hospital. I can't completely blame AJ for everything that has happened, he clearly loves me, but love isn't enough. God I wish it could be, but it isn't, not any more, maybe it never was.

XXXXXX

The hospital was in the distance now, we were making our way to the airport for the flight back to the states, and as soon as we touched down my life would never ever be as I had thought it would be again. It had taken two weeks at the hospital for the doctors to be comfortable enough to discharge me and allow me to fly, they still weren't happy that I was leaving, but Bobby was told what to look out for and he had already set up an appointment with an OB outside of Trenton for us.

I had spoken with my father and explained what I wanted to do, he wasn't thrilled, but he understood to a certain extent. It had probably been one of the hardest discussions that I had had with him, but I needed him to know that there was no way I would be living in Trenton, he could visit, but no one other than who I chose would have full access to my house. Justin had set everything up, a house had already been purchased, decorated and a security system in place, we were taking no chances, and there was no guarantee that we would be staying permanently. I wanted to see my grandmother, and to see if I could remember anything more from my past, but as far as staying in the states, I had no idea what I was going to do. I guess only time will tell.

I am a completely different person than the one that left Trenton all those months ago, or so I'm told. Maybe it's because I have options that I didn't before, or maybe it's because I had been completely removed from the burg', but Tank had told me that he was seeing an entirely different side of me. Well, I guess that shouldn't be a complete shock to anyone. How can you act the same when you don't even remember who you were before? Yeah I've been having more and more flashes of my past, but that's just it, they are flashes, little details of my past, but not much makes a whole lot of sense, at least at this point. I remember the guys, Tank, Lester, Bobby, my dad, but I still don't remember that much about Ranger. At times it's like having a panic attack when we try to talk, the sound of his voice causes some of the worst headaches I've had, so we have decided to take things as they go and he has promised at this point not to push.

I saw the look of sadness cross his face when he promised not to push, and I asked the guys about it, but they said in time things would become clearer. I hope so, it's confusing, but one thing that I have figured out is that it is his voice that said the words that have caused me such sadness, have haunted me since before I woke from the coma, but what do I do about them.

Landing, I took one last look at AJ. Holding his hand the entire flight has allowed me the security I needed to feel. I know that it was not what the guys wanted to happen, but I needed his touch, the reassurance that everything in the long run would be okay, even if we couldn't be together. As we stepped off the plane, two men in suits moved up to us and moved to cuff him. AJ never struggled of fought for his freedom; he accepted what they were doing. They turned to move away and take him to the car a short distance from our plane, but I refused to let them go. AJ turned to me at the sound of my voice, I placed my hand on his cheek while looking into his eyes, "Another time, another place and everything would have been different. No matter what, know that I love you. You are in my heart and soul; our son will connect us forever. I will not keep him from you." AJ shed a tear and leaned in to kiss me lightly on the lips.

Looking in my eyes he said, "I love you. No matter what, I love you. Please believe that." He leaned his forehead against mine and took in a deep breath. "Remember who you are now, not just what you used to be. You are so much stronger. That is what our son needs." He kissed my lips one more time and the two suits pulled him forward toward their vehicle out of my reach.

I whispered to his back, "I know, and I believe you. Always." I saw the tension in his shoulders release as he moved to the door of the car. When it closed with him inside I caught his gaze once more, I saw the sadness, but also the love in his eyes, and it was only to be broken when the car moved forward to take him to his new home until he had completed his time served.

Justin came up behind me and placed a soft hand on my shoulder offering his silent support. I needed a place to get myself centered before we went any further, and apparently it was clear to him just what I needed. Swiftly moving me to the SUV without a word he helped me in and he had a few words with Lester. Before I knew it we were on the road in silence. The tears streaming down my face must have warned everyone from attempting to speak to me, and I couldn't have been more thankful for their silence. If I had tried to speak I would have broken down in sobs.

A short time later we were pulling into a parking lot of what looked like a park. It wasn't crowded, but I could see a pond in the distance through the windshield, and people walking around at a leisurely pace, some with their dogs. I hadn't paid any attention to where we were going, and honestly nothing looked familiar, but I trusted Justin and Lester to know where to go, and I was obviously right. I needed to see and hear the water and life around me, without there being too many people. The guys would watch over me and let me work through my emotions before they pushed.

Getting out of the SUV Justin held me tight against his side and the rest of the guys stayed back and allowed us to move close to the pond. Sitting on a bench just staring out over the water I could let my mind drift, and the tears continuing to flow. Thinking of all the time I had spent with AJ, every touch, every kiss, his kind words, I had to believe they were all true. I knew it deep down that they were, but I still needed to remind myself of that. I had to be able to tell our son how much his father loves him, and I had to acknowledge that I needed to move forward from here. Knowing that there were so many things up in the air made me uncomfortable, but with my friends, I knew that I would get through this. I'm strong, just like AJ told me. No matter what I was like before, no one was going to walk all over me now, or ever again. I would be the strong woman everyone claimed I was. I would be the mother that my son needed. There were no other options for me, and I'd do my damndest to do that.

It took a while, but finally Justin broke the silence, "Are you okay? I know that was hard for you. It breaks my heart to see you like this." he explained holding me tight against his side.

Leaning my head on his shoulder I took a deep breath, "I may not be right now, but I will be. That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do." Taking another shuddered breath, "God I love him so much, and it just tears me up to think of what he's done. I don't think I will ever get past that, but I also won't keep him from his son. That wouldn't be fair to either of them." I stated with absolute conviction at the end.

After a few moments of silence he spoke again, "You're a good person. Too good for any of us really, you know that, right? I don't think anyone else would look at this situation and not completely cut AJ off for what he did."

"But what would that do to Jake?" I asked as I rubbed my belly. "He needs to know his father. He wasn't an accident. He was and still is wanted. I never want him to feel as though he was anything other than loved completely by anyone in his life. AJ may have made some bad choices, but there has been some good to come of it, and that is how I have to look at this." I tried to explain.

"Do you think you could ever forgive AJ completely? Once he's done serving his time. Do you think that you two could get back together?" Justin asked.

I shook my head no. "He betrayed me Justin. He lied to me from the beginning about practically everything. Even if it was by omission, it's still a lie. I know that he loves me, and I know that he loves his son, but I don't think that I could ever completely trust him with my heart again."

Before we could continue our conversation we heard loud barking and some scuffling from our right, but still off in the distance. Justin's left arm went to his waist band to his gun and we both turned to the right to see what was going on. A large hairy dog, golden in color, was struggling against his leash, rearing up on his hind legs and jumping forward in our direction. The owner was a thin, but somewhat muscular male with shaggy brown hair and was struggling to keep him under control, pulling back on the leash without much success. The look on his face was one of complete shock as if he had never seen his dog act this way. The noise was disturbing the ducks laying on the grass around the pond and they began to fly around quacking their obvious displeasure. I could feel the guys starting to move closer to where we were sitting.

Watching the dog continue to struggle I felt a sense of familiarity with him. I looked at the owner again, but didn't recognize him, although when we made eye contact there was an obvious sense of confusion and recognition in his gaze. He suddenly released the leash and dropped his arms to his side and the dog took off in our direction. It only took seconds for the dog to make his way to us and he was half standing on the bench we were sitting on attempting to lick my face, his tail wagging wildly behind him. I couldn't stop the giggle at his excitement. As soon as the dog made contact with me we were surrounded by the guys, Ranger and my dad being front and center, their back facing me.

The man who had been holding the leash finally came out of his shock and started in our direction with a look of disbelief on his face. Only he was stopped by very unhappy ducks as they started to dive bomb the man, pecking at his hair and ears. A few even dared to land and went after his pants, attempting to get any part of him they could. The mans' arms began to flail around trying to ward off the attack, but the ducks were relentless. They not only continued to pull on his hair, but they were pooping on him and forcing him in the direction of the pond.

I watched the scene in front of me play out as I pet the big hairy golden dog. I couldn't help but laugh full out at what was taking place. The man was becoming more and more agitated as the ducks attacked him, and he called out to them to 'quit it', arms still swatting them away and his feet began to trip over each other the closer he got to the pond. It was no time before he was falling into the pond and was suddenly submerged under the dirty water. I felt sorry for the guy for being all wet and covered in pond scum, but somehow I didn't feel that bad for him, which I thought was weird since I didn't know him. However I just couldn't stop laughing.

Before I knew it Ranger, Lester and my dad were pulling us away from the scene and we were still surrounded by the rest of our group. "We need to get out of here Beautiful. I don't think you're ready for another confrontation today. And that's exactly what would happen if we stick around."

I didn't really comprehend what he'd said, but I let it go only saying between fits of giggles, "Poor guy. He certainly isn't going to smell pretty for a while." That caused the guys to laugh harder.

"Honestly it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Morelli deserves far worse." Ranger commented with a slight smile as we all loaded in the car.

I ignored his comment since I didn't know why he would say such a thing. But then again, I didn't know who the guy was or what was between him and all of the guys with me. "I know this is going to sound bad, but I needed that." I continued to giggle as we pulled out of the parking lot. I felt lighter than I had when we arrived at the park, but by no means did I feel that everything would go smoothly. With a lighter heart I decided I needed to see Grandma Mazur. I knew she could help me.

**Thank you for reading along. I am back, but I won't be posting as often as I originally was with this story since I've gone back to work. But I am determined to complete this story by the end of the year. **

**Thank you to everyone who voted in the pole for Morelli getting attacked by ducks. I hope I did it justice. I just needed to break up the sad in this update. I hope you will continue to read along with me. There will be a new update posted next week. **


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hi there everyone, I'm back. Yeah. It's been a long few months, but my job is finally slowing down and I have more time to write now. I hope to post a chapter a week between Behind Blue Eyes and Fame and Fortune. **

**Thank you for all of your well wishes and continued interest in both stories. I have also been working at turning You Think You Know Me into an original story. I hope to have it completed by the middle of January. I may put up a little teaser in the next week or so. If you have never read my You Think series please try it and let me know what you think. **

**Just borrowing and having fun. All errors are mine.**

We all climbed in the SUV's and headed to my parents house to let my grandma know that I was back safe and sound. I honestly didn't know what to expect. Pulling up to the house I could see two women standing in the doorway. My father turned to me and said, "It'll be ok Pumpkin. We've all missed you and have been worried about you. They know what has been going on over the last few weeks. No one blames you for any of this." I couldn't really respond to him. We all climbed out of the cars and headed for the door.

The first thing I heard was my grandmother's voice which I recognized right away. She was coming down the walkway as fast as she could get her little old legs to move and hugged me. Tears streaming down her face, but her voice strong saying, "Baby granddaughter, thank god you're ok. God I missed you so much Steph." Refusing to let me go, I found myself hugging her back automatically while having flashes over and over again of her from past encounters that made me want to smile. "It's been dull around here without you." Finally taking a step back to look at me, "You look wonderful. You have that pregnancy glow about you. I can't wait to hear everything that you've been up to. I hear where they found you it was beautiful, I'm sure you have some good stories to tell me." She smiled up at me.

I gave her a sad smile, "It was beautiful Grandma. I missed you too." I was being completely honest, seeing her now reminded me what I was missing, I now remembered that she had been one of the few people that had ever made me laugh and smile.

We continued up the walkway and up to the porch. The woman standing there was looking on in disapproval. Once someone took hold of the screen door she moved into the living room without a word to anyone. As soon as we all made it in to the living room and the door was closed she made sure to voice her opinion.

"Stephanie Michelle Plum, how could you do this to me? Mona Plotski's daughter doesn't get herself kidnapped and pregnant. Phyllis Shankman's daughter doesn't disappear on a regular basis and cause men to go and rescue her from another country. Only my daughter causes all of the problems and embarrassment for our family. Sherry Blansky's daughter settled down, and had a family, but no my daughter has to go and get kidnapped…" it kept going but I had already zoned out at the first sound of my old name.

Grabbing my head and nearly falling down as my knees gave out, I felt someone grab hold of me to keep me from hitting the ground and then swiftly being moved to a sitting position. My mind was being flooded with memories of other lectures of this type, 'so and so's daughter doesn't get kidnapped, so and so's daughter doesn't get shot at, so and so's daughter doesn't blow up cars on a regular basis, so and so's daughter works a normal job and has started a family, so and so's daughter doesn't shoot people, doesn't break men left and right, doesn't almost get raped, have men killed in her apartment, get tortured'. The headache was getting worse and worse the more it went on. As soon as the pain started to let up I was beginning to hear arguing in the background. Both male and female voices were drifting in and out of my head. I was slowly being rocked like a small child and someone was whispering in my ear that they were there for me and nothing would hurt me. I couldn't tell who it was, but I felt comforted and I noticed the pain was beginning to recede quicker.

Finally able to gather myself somewhat I was able to see that I was sitting in the living room on the couch in Justin's lap with many eyes staring at me in concern and filled with worry, but I was also seeing my mother and father argue along with Ranger about what was going on. Justin was rubbing my back in gentle circles while I released my temples and patted my belly where my son had been kicking me since we stepped into this house. I couldn't take the arguing anymore and knew that someone had to put a stop to it.

"Shut up, just shut up all of you." I yelled to get everyone's attention. When there was silence I could only shake my head in amazement. I quietly responded, "In all the memory flashes that I had of you, and what AJ explained to me, he didn't do you nearly the justice you deserved. When he said you were a bitch, it was the biggest understatement he could have possibly made." I saw looks of surprise on all of their faces, looking directly at the woman that called herself my mother and said, "You are undeniably, without question, the most heartless person I have ever come across. The term bitch isn't harsh enough." Everyone just looked at me with stunned expressions, all but Justin. He knew what I had been told and apparently he agreed with me.

My mother took the silence as her cue to speak up again. "How can you speak to me like that? I'm your mother, I deserve your respect. No child of mine will talk about me like that. What would the neighbors think?"

I stood from Justin's lap and stepped up in her face to speak. "I've been gone, from what everyone tells me nine months, where you had no clue as to what happened to me or where I was. For all you knew I could have been dead. Which is exactly what you must have thought since you held a memorial service without even having any proof? Since I walked in that door have you once asked me how I was? Told me you were glad I was safe? Told me that you were happy that I was back? No, you just started in on another one of your rants about so and so's daughters. You care more about what other people think rather than how your own daughter is." I said glaring at her. "Do you even know what happened to me or did you just ignore what everyone has told you like usual?" I took a deep breath before continuing. "For your information I was taken against my will from the hospital here in Trenton while I was unconscious. I was lied to; I fell in love with and married the very man that took me because he used my memories that I did have against me." A stunned looked crossed her face. "Yeah, you heard right, that I did have. I have amnesia, I still don't remember everything or everyone, or why I remember them. Up until now I didn't remember you except for a few of your rants but now I remember a good chunk of them. Too bad those couldn't have stayed away too, because they brought more hurt than comfort." I shook my head at her. No wonder my mind didn't want to remember.

"You call yourself a mother? You berated everything that I did, you never supported my choices, and you pushed me to be something that I wasn't. No wonder I hate to cook and never wanted to become a mother. I never wanted to be like YOU! That is something that I have AJ to thank for though, he honestly helped me to get over those feelings, something that you should have been there to do. Seeing you now and remembering all the hurt that you have caused me, don't think that I will ever let you near any children of mine. The only thing I feel towards you is anger, no love, just unadulterated anger, which is something that I won't expose my son, or any possible future children. I will be there for him like every mother should be for their child, to support his dreams, to make him feel like he can do anything he sets his mind to, and above all else, to know that he's loved unconditionally. That is something that you never offered me. Something I don't even think you know how to give. So go see what your precious neighbors think of you when they find out that you aren't allowed to be in your grandson's life. See if they welcome you with open arms when they hear that the daughter that you once used to complain about chooses to remove you completely from her life. It's all on you."

"To be honest, with this lovely reception I don't know why I even agreed to come back here. I should have stayed at my house back in Greece. I won't be coming back to this house. I hope you're happy with yourself." I turned to my father next. "I know that I must have other happier memories of you because I feel other things for you than anger, but from what I just remembered you were almost always there when she ranted like that and you did nothing to stop it." I stared him right in the eye. "For future reference, I won't be letting anyone do that to me again. If you're not willing to stand up for me even to my own mother why should I believe that you would do it with anyone else? You need to think about that, before you come and talk to me again because if you're willing to continue to behave like that towards me you won't be seeing me or your grandchild either." I paused to let that sink in. "I'm not asking you to choose me over anyone else, but I am asking for you to not let her berate everything that I do." I could see the hurt in my father's eyes, but I had to let him know how I felt. This wasn't about just me anymore and I'm not going to let that kind of negativity be anywhere near my son.

I suddenly felt tired and Jake was starting to kick up a storm, probably because of all the yelling. I looked at Justin with tired eye and asked, "Justin, can you take me home? I don't want to be here anymore."

"Sure thing, let's go." He replied, walking us out the door and headed for the cars, holding me at the waist to help support me.

I heard footsteps behind us following down the walkway, then a voice, "Beautiful, are you okay? That was pretty bad in there. I don't think I've ever seen you stand up to your mother before." Lester commented.

I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't really feel anything right at this moment. There was no relief, no anger, no fear, nothing. I guess my lack of response worried them, Justin was looking at me with concerned eyes and just as we made it to the car and the passenger door opening my world went black.

(Justin's POV)

Shit, how could she just do that to her own daughter? No wonder she didn't want to remember her life! I was honestly floored by some of the things that Michelle said to her mother. I know when she told me the memories that she did have and how they were unpleasant ones I figured that she only remembered the bad, but to hear her say that she only felt anger towards her mother I was floored. I think so was everyone else in the room. How could a mother do that to her own child? Michelle is the most caring and forgiving person I have ever met.

When she said she wanted to leave I was more than happy to get her out of there. I was surprised that she had held up to all of this as long as she had so far. God she's an amazing woman. Helping her out to the car I could tell it was getting harder and harder for her to walk, but as soon as we reached the car and I got the door open she passed out.

"Shit, Bobby check her blood pressure." I said as I lowered her to the seat. He rushed to her side and did as I asked.

After a minute he said, "It's high and her heart is racing. We need to get her to the hospital as soon as possible so we can make sure the baby is okay. It's been a long day for her with the Feds taking AJ and that whole scene in there, but I'd rather not take any chances." Bobby replied.

"Ah hell, she hate's hospitals. Alright, you sit in back with her and I'll take shot gun, someone needs to drive since I'm not familiar with the area." I replied.

"I'll drive." Ranger said already climbing in the driver's side. We all climbed in and the rest of Ranger's men climbed in a separate car and we high tailed it to the ER. Bobby called ahead while checking on her

**Happy New Year Everyone. Hope you enjoyed this update. More to come soon I promise. Let me know what you think I'd love to hear from you. **


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